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“New in Town” is both a romantic comedy and a fish-out-of-water
story, setups so overused that they’ve pretty much lost
all credibility. I will not go so far as to say that this
is a bad film; in fact, it redeems itself to a degree with
a subplot involving corporate greed and harsh economic realities,
which could not be timelier. But as far as the romantic
comedy stuff is concerned, this movie gives as absolutely
nothing new, and it showed no ambition to do so. ***
It’s typical boy-and-girl-from-two-different-worlds
material, with an executive from sunny Miami and a blue-collar
union representative from snowy New Ulm, Minnesota crossing
paths and hitting it off. Even more typical is the fact
that, initially, the two can’t stand each other, which I
guess is proof of the age-old adage that opposites attract.
***
The Miami exec is Lucy Hill (Renée Zellweger), who
lives a comfortable life and prefers business skirts and
clacky high heels. She senses a possible promotion when
her company announces it needs someone to restructure one
of their out-of-state factories. She volunteers before realizing
that she will be sent to New Ulm, one of those middle-of-nowhere
towns with a population of less than 15,000 people. ***
When she arrives, she tries to think positively: “How
bad can it be?” she asks before stepping out the airport
door and feeling a bone-chilling arctic wind. You’d think
someone traveling to another state would have the foresight
to check The Weather Channel before leaving; that way, you
would know to pack the right kind of clothing. Alas, no
such character exists in a romantic comedy. ***
Lucy soon meets Blanche Gunderson (Siobhan Fallon Hogan),
a woman Sarah Palin could communicate with were it not for
her thick Minnesota accent. She’s wholesome, cheerful, and
uncomplicated, a member of a scrapbooking club who guards
her tapioca pudding recipe and regularly brings Jesus into
everyday conversation. Did you expect anything less from
a character named Gunderson? ***
She’s to be Lucy’s secretary at the factory. For a time,
she’s also the only friendly face Lucy will come across;
New Ulm is a tight-knit community that doesn’t take kindly
to corporate types, especially since they’re more interested
in making a profit than they are in the livelihoods of the
working class. Indeed, Lucy’s restructuring plan involves
a serious number of job cuts. ***
The first to voice his opposing views is the union representative,
Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick, Jr.), who also serves as a
tow-truck driver and a volunteer firefighter. Aside from
the fact that he and Lucy don’t get along, the fact that
he doesn’t sound like anyone else in New Ulm is a big clue
that the two will eventually fall in love. Ted is originally
from North Carolina; he moved to Minnesota (for reasons
I won’t reveal), and now he’s an overprotective single dad
raising a shy teenage daughter named Bobbie (Ferron Guerreiro).
***
Lucy can help, here, not because she has children of
her own, but because she knows how to dress and put on makeup,
which will help Bobbie on her date to a Valentine’s Day
dance. There are other factors, of course, but do any of
them really matter? All we need to know is that Lucy and
Ted are falling in love. ***
As the two get closer, the community begins to see
Lucy in a different light. Likewise, Lucy begins to respect
the community, seeing them as more than beer drinking, ice
fishing lowlifes that like polka dancing. Before long, it
becomes a life-changing event for everyone. ***
This is about as predictable as some of the film’s
“funnier” moments, such as when Lucy and Ted are out crow
hunting, and Lucy has to pee in the woods but can’t undo
her zipper. Or when a local named Stu Kopenhafer (J.K. Simmons)
and a group of coworkers trick Lucy into thinking there’s
a holiday called Gopher Day. Or when Lucy gets drunk after
driving into a ditch and getting stranded. I guess romantic
comedies need moments like this, just like they need an
assortment of quirky characters. God forbid screenwriters
try their hand at witty dialogue or characters with believable
personalities. ***
But “New in Town” does have the factory subplot to
fall back on. There are a select few moments that are actually
compelling, not only because they draw on plausible economic
situations, but also because they allow the characters to
temporarily set aside their quirks. They even give Zellweger
the opportunity to finally seem like a real executive and
not just a woman who looks silly pacing a factory in high
heels. If only there were more moments like this. ***
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