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New in Town
Metascore
29 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 32
  3. Negative: 21 out of 32
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  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    75
    A gentle, traditional (like, from the last century) romantic comedy.
  2. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Paula Nechak
    67
    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.
  3. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    63
    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.
  4. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Jason Buchanan
    63
    It has a certain Midwestern charm that settles calmly in the stomach, making the viewer feel warm, comfortable, and quick to smile.
  5. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    Do you like this sort of rom-com? It's a fair example of its type, not good, but competent.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    50
    New in Town is "The Pajama Game" without the songs, the laughs or the bare-knuckled realism.
  7. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Hartlaub
    50
    Zellweger takes an otherwise passable mainstream comedy and all but ruins it with her lack of effort.
  8. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    50
    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.
  9. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    50
    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.
  10. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    50
    New In Town grinds its plucky protagonist through a predictable arc from dispassionate big-city ice queen to redeemed small-town tenderheart.
  11. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Brian Miller
    40
    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.
  12. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Connie Ogle
    38
    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.
  13. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    38
    The movie has little to recommend it and more than a few things to encourage those who pursue quality cinema to stay away.
  14. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Olivia Putnal
    38
    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.
  15. NPR
    Reviewed by: Bob Mondello
    35
    There's no chemistry between Zellweger and Connick, and there's not a moment in which anything anyone does feels remotely plausible.
  16. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Michael Rechtshaffen
    30
    Strictly old hat -- and a poorly assembled hat at that.
  17. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    30
    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.
  18. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Betsy Sharkey
    30
    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.
  19. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    30
    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.
  20. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    30
    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.
  21. Variety
    Reviewed by: Joe Leydon
    30
    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.
  22. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    30
    Seriously, though, watching New in Town left me feeling as pained as Zellweger, playing Lucy Hill, looks.
  23. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    30
    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.
  24. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    25
    This crap is supposed to be the chick flick antidote to Super Bowl fever. Ha!
  25. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    25
    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.
  26. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    25
    As a comic fable for hard times, New in Town is irredeemably moronic.
  27. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Marc Mohan
    25
    Reprehensible.
  28. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    25
    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.
  29. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    20
    A romantic comedy that's neither romantic nor funny.
  30. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Kimberley Jones
    20
    New in Town might have better played on the less demanding stage of, say, a Lifetime made-for-TV movie.
  31. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    10
    It's unfunny at best and borderline-amateur at worst, notwithstanding the desperate efforts of Renée Zellweger.
  32. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    0
    Excruciatingly unfunny.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
4.1 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 20 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 4 out of 9
  1. ChadS.
    4
    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.… Full Review »
  2. smijatov
    3
    The first and biggest problem this film has is the fact that it is a romantic comedy. Being one, it does not deviate from the typical rom-com recipe, what-so-ever. Being rather predictable (and by rather I mean completely to an annoying degree), the film does not offer anything new to the audience. The screenplay is simply bad, with a storyline that was maybe innovative back in the 1980s, but now has become the standardised cliche. One the film manages well is to create a positive relationship between the audience and the Minnesotans in the film. Some very cute scenes are in the film, and one cannot but feel warmly towards them, especially Siobhan Fallon's character, who is, by far, the best thing in this bad film. Renee Zellweger is rather bad - her strongest asset here seems to be her body, and it's in a film where that shouldn't be an issue. But yes, Zellweger doesn't give anything good to the film, and one can only wonder why she ever got cast. Maybe trying to re-connect to her Bridget Jones' days? Be it as it may, the film is rather bad and annoying, full of cliches concerning both rom-coms and Minnesota, and with generally pretty bad dialogue and acting, makes "New in Town" be one of those films you could have easily gone without ever watching.… Full Review »
  3. heather1987
    0
    Probably one of the worst movies ever. It's equally off-base with its portrayal of "city people" and "country folks'. Both seem to be outdated and stereotypical. Don't waste your time.… Full Review »
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