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New in Town

EMAILPRINTLionsgate

New in Town reviews
29
4.2 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 15 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy  |  Romance

Written by: Kenneth Rance
C. Jay Cox

Directed by: Jonas Elmer

Release Date:
Theatrical: January 30, 2009
DVD: May 26, 2009

Running Time: 96 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Language(s): English | Spanish

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for brief strong language

Starring Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., J.K. Simmons, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Frances Conroy, Mike O'Brien, and Rashida Jones

Lucy Hill is an ambitious, up and coming executive living in Miami. She loves her shoes, she loves her cars and she loves climbing the corporate ladder. When she is offered a temporary assignment - in the middle of nowhere - to restructure a manufacturing plant, she accepts the opportunity, knowing a big promotion is close at hand. What begins as a straight forward job assignment becomes a life changing experience as Lucy discovers greater meaning in her life and most unexpectedly, the man of her dreams. (Lionsgate)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

A gentle, traditional (like, from the last century) romantic comedy.

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67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

It resorts to a story line so predictable that its willingness to go so earnestly into unoriginal territory is doubly disappointing since its first half had so much more going for it.

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63

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The first Hollywood feature from Danish filmmaker Jonas Elmer, New in Town is so choppy that it would seem to have been edited with a pickax.

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63

TV Guide Jason Buchanan

It has a certain Midwestern charm that settles calmly in the stomach, making the viewer feel warm, comfortable, and quick to smile.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

As for the locals, they speak like extras from "Fargo," although, on this go-round, that weird Swedish accent has somehow lost its power to amuse.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Zellweger takes an otherwise passable mainstream comedy and all but ruins it with her lack of effort.

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50

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Do you like this sort of rom-com? It's a fair example of its type, not good, but competent.

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50

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

New in Town is "The Pajama Game" without the songs, the laughs or the bare-knuckled realism.

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

New In Town grinds its plucky protagonist through a predictable arc from dispassionate big-city ice queen to redeemed small-town tenderheart.

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50

Boston Globe Ty Burr

You've seen New in Town before, and you've seen it done better. Still, it's a sweet-hearted bit of anemia, pleasant and obvious, and there are a few honest laughs to it.

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40

Village Voice Brian Miller

The movie wrong-foots Zellweger from the start. She's not enough the ice queen, like Sigourney Weaver in "Working Girl," for us to accept her transition into adorable Melanie Griffith.

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38

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The movie has little to recommend it and more than a few things to encourage those who pursue quality cinema to stay away.

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38

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

The ghastly first half of this romantic comedy -- is as close to unwatchable as any moment in "Bride Wars." The fact that it stars Renée Zellweger just makes it harder to bear.

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38

Premiere Olivia Putnal

Although it wasn't quite the comedy we had hoped for, the idea behind it is pretty cute; we just wished the laughs weren't so awkward and forced.

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35

NPR Bob Mondello

There's no chemistry between Zellweger and Connick, and there's not a moment in which anything anyone does feels remotely plausible.

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30

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Watching Ms. Zellweger’s joyless performance, you have to wonder what happened to this formerly charming actress who not so long ago seemed on the verge of becoming a softer, more vulnerable Shirley MacLaine.

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30

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

On second thought, maybe just about everyone should stay away from this drearily cheerful little picture that isn't nearly as funny or as heartwarming -- or even as topical, given the economic climate -- as it thinks it is.

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30

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The laughs and emotional moments are so weak that director Jonas Elmer has no choice but to tweak them with music cues and bland guitar-rock.

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30

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Strictly old hat -- and a poorly assembled hat at that.

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30

Variety Joe Leydon

It doesn't help that Zellweger, in an unfortunate attempt to make the aud appreciate her character's uptightness, spends many of the early scenes moving about as stiff as a flagpole in January.

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30

Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey

The new comedy is flat, the romance is listless, the pacing is sluggish, and the fish-out-of-water flops -- flip-flop, flip-flop, I can hear it still.

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30

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Seriously, though, watching New in Town left me feeling as pained as Zellweger, playing Lucy Hill, looks.

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30

Slate Dana Stevens

One of many burdensome tasks required of the viewer of this fish-out-of-water love story. The toughest of all: caring about any of the characters in this smug, check-off-the-boxes comedy.

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25

USA Today Claudia Puig

To say that New in Town is the worst movie of this fledgling year is to damn it with faint praise. It may be one of the worst movies of any year. Not content to be merely inane and predictable, it is downright insulting, humorlessly deriding those who choose to live in rural America, labor in factories or have a strong Christian faith.

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25

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

This crap is supposed to be the chick flick antidote to Super Bowl fever. Ha!

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25

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

Reprehensible.

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25

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The only point of interest in New in Town is sociological. In the current economic climate, this comedy about workers whose livelihood is rescued by a benevolent boss represents the ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy. Don't spend your hard-earned discretionary cash on it.

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25

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

As a comic fable for hard times, New in Town is irredeemably moronic.

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20

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

A romantic comedy that's neither romantic nor funny.

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20

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

New in Town might have better played on the less demanding stage of, say, a Lifetime made-for-TV movie.

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10

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

It's unfunny at best and borderline-amateur at worst, notwithstanding the desperate efforts of Renée Zellweger.

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0

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Excruciatingly unfunny.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 4.2 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bob gave it a0:
Awful. Horrible. I'm from New Ulm and that's why I rented the movie. COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC AND INNACURATE. Not to mention a truly dopey, stupid movie. I like Rene Zellweger and HCJ, but ... what were they thinking?

gary w gave it a6:
As bad movies go, I somewhat enjoyed it. Lowered expectations always help. And not paying good money to see it at a theater helps as well. For the reviewers who say there is nothing funny about it at all, that's simply not true.. There Are some funny scenes, and I was able to to overlook the bad, relax and enjoy.

Jay H gave it a6:
Very predictable romantic comedy, but it still entertains, especially if you are in the mood for a feel good comedy and the cast is very enjoyable. Mindless fluff, but fun.

hughie gave it a7:
Not great, but much more entertaining than the bulk of these reviews would lead you to believe.

Chad S. gave it a4:
No worldly sophisticate by any stretch of the imagination, Marge Gunderson(Frances McDormand) displayed all the tell-tale signs of living in a small-town, but she was smart, on her own terms, funny voice notwithstanding. The Brainerd detective is the sort of character that's sorely missing in "New in Town", a person who could put the city girl in her place. The waitress tries. At the diner, the waitress ridicules Lucy(Renee Zellweger) for believing that the town of New Ulm celebrates a holiday which pays homage to the gopher. But really, the joke is on the old woman and the diner patrons, because that's the extent of the insularity Lucy surmises these rural folks embody. This company henchwoman makes the Bill Murray character in Harold Ramis' "Groundhog Day" seem congenial. At some point, however, Lucy's condesension will come to a halt, and "voila", the people she despises suddenly becomes the people she cherishes. But the manner in which Lucy goes about her transformation seems even more unearned than what is usually part and parcel of the rom-com formula. She simply gets into a car accident and emerges from the accident, a changed woman. This near-death experience negates the occasion for these Minnesota denizens to prove their mettle as Lucy's equals, and truly earn her respect. Instead of feeling contempt for these "lowly" people, now she pities them. Now she has to save them; her dear, dear underlings. Thanks to an undiagnosed concussion, this professional woman, on the fast track to VP stewardship, can now enjoy the simple things in life, like put on a scarf and join the carollers, as they all hold candles in open-mouthed earnestness around a lighted Christmas tree. For "New in Town" to transcend its initial patronizing attitude towards country life, Blanche Gunderson(Sibohan Fallon) needed to launch her "Tapioca Pudding Boom" without Lucy's marketing know-how. As for Ted(Harry Connick Jr.), he has the steering wheel column to thank for his good fortune.

kg m. gave it a5:
Renee Zellweger (Lucy) lost a lot of weight and looks fantastic in her designer clothes and shoes. That said, this is your typical ‘fish out of water’, uncaring corporate greed, morality play and it’s done in cookie-cutter fashion and offers absolutely nothing new. What redeems this movie are the Minnesota accents, the authentic Midwestern snow, and the undercurrent of Christianity and family values done in a non-condescending way. Not quite sure why you would bring this out in late January as opposed to the Christmas season but perhaps they figured that this movie wouldn’t stand out. Well, it doesn’t, but that’s OK.

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