Wasn’t Fargo a great movie? Don’t you just love Minnesota, where the women have names like Trudy and Blanche, and where the men ice fish and drive pick-ups? Wouldn’t it be awesome if there were another movie like that? That’s what the makers of New in Town hope you’re thinking. But by pulling out every romantic-comedy joke in the book, this wintry flick is blander than casserole without green beans, dontcha know.
A Miami-based corporation is in the midst of restructuring several of its plants, including one in remote New Ulm, Minnesota. When no one volunteers to oversee the process, driven businesswoman Lucy Hill (Renee Zellweger) reluctantly accepts the job. In Minnesota, she finds herself fighting against over-friendly neighbors, skeptical co-workers and the bitter cold. As she begins to restructure the plant, she finds herself at odds (both personally and professionally) with the local union rep, Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick, Jr.) He’s a handsome widower who hates Lucy at first sight… so you all know what that means. And as Lucy spends more time in the snow-covered town, she discovers that the little people mean more to a company than figures and paychecks.
There is a certain romantic allure to snowy forests and small town Christmases, but we can only take so much. The film so drab, dark and sparse it recalls the snowy landscapes of last year’s X-Files movie – not the image you want while watching a romantic comedy. Jokes about the weather, scrapbooking and tapioca aren’t doing any favors either. There are tired, clichéd Midwestern jokes galore – so many that it transcends reality. I don’t know about you, but an entire town gathering around a giant Christmas tree and singing carols is more Whoville than Minnesota.
With her round face and pouty lips, Zellweger adds the same kind of spoiled humor she’s been doing for years. The shtick has lost its brilliance since her early ‘00s heyday. Here, she’s nothing more than a perpetually cold Bridget Jones. The cast has its share of genuinely funny character actors – including Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Frances Conroy and J.K. Simmons – but they don’t have much to do other than roll out the same old “Ya, you betcha” thing we’ve seen for years.
New in Town is Fargo without the wood chipper – and that’s not meant to be an endorsement for family-friendly audiences. Entirely inoffensive but completely riskless, the film is never anything more than “cute.” When a comedy exclusively relies on stereotypes that were used brilliantly years ago, it's clear the filmmakers were about a decade too late.
