Review of New Year's Eve (2011) by Thomas W — 17 Aug 2013

While I found it better than the "first" of these holiday-themed films, Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve is still lite fluff that can be enjoyed if one doesn't expect much out of it.

As there are so many stories inter-woven here, there ARE several celebrities to be found in NYE such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Katehrine Heigl, Zac Efron, Jon Bon Jovi, Chris "Ludicris" Bridges, Sarah Jessica Parker, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Seth Meyers, Josh Duhamel, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, Robert DeNiro, Hillary Swank, Ashton Kutcher, Sofia Vergera, Lea Michele, Yeardley Smith, Carla Gugino, Alyssa Milano and Sarah Paulson.

The story focuses upon several New Yorkers as the city gets closer to the big ball drop at midnight. Some of the characters are famous, some are overworked everyday New Yorkers, some are privileged, some are dying etc.

The film tries to give us a little bit of everything here as it wants to represent the city as a diverse collection of individuals ... although the city still comes across as pretty white. Some of the stories resonate a bit more than others while some are meaningless fillers.

Most of the film is trite, actually; but there are a few moments that could tug-at-a-heart. Everyone gets to look pretty and Bon Jovi and Glee's Michele both get to sing (surprise!). White there are a few laughs at some witting remarks, there isn't a whole lot of depth here.

Most of these storylines seem to be rehashed or inspired from Valentine's Day ... although luckily there is no phone sex operator here in NYE (shew ...). The movie is not great or even really good .

.. but it is not terribly bad either. It is a passable watch as there are so many worse ways one can spend an evening in watching a movie. I actually appreciated the imagination on display in the Efron/Pfeiffer segments so the film isn't a complete waste.