SYNOPSIS:
A high-powered consultant in love with her upscale Miami lifestyle
is sent to a middle of nowhere town in Minnesota to oversee
the restructuring of a blue collar manufacturing plant. After
enduring a frosty reception from the locals, icy roads and
freezing weather, she warms up to the small town's charm,
and eventually finds herself being accepted by the community.
When she's ordered to close down the plant and put the entire
community out of work, she's forced to reconsider her goals
and priorities, and finds a way to save the town.
MOVIE REVIEW:
You really wonder: Is there a curse bestowed on actors who have proudly went on stage to collect that little golden naked man known as an Oscar statuette? Look at Halle Berry and Hilary Swank. The Oscar Best Actress winners (Monster’s Ball, Boys Don’t Cry & Million Dollar Baby) have duds like Catwoman (2004), Perfect Stranger (2007), The Black Dahlia (2006) and The Reaping (2007) between them. And here we have Oscar Best Supporting Actress winner Renee Zellweger (Cold Mountain) joining the gang. What made the Texas born actress agree to taking up this uninspiring role? It baffles us as much as it baffles you.
The unoriginal story centers on a modern career woman who adores her high maintenance lifestyle in the city. In an expected plot development, she is sent to a not so modern town in Minnesota to oversee a business project. You can expect the inertia cold reactions from the townsfolk and the eventual acceptance by them. Of course, you’d also have the obligatory difficult decision to make when she is ordered by higher authorities (they always have a conveniently evil role to play in movies) to put the town out of work, our protagonist has to make some life changing decisions that will only result in a happy ending, yes, Hollywood style.
The story outline is almost like a secondary school student’s composition, where there is the initial setup, the core of the story and the climatic showdown. The conventional three act structure is a spot on from the beginning of the movie. And yes, you’d have to sit through all 93 minutes of it to get to the end where happy faces and elated smiles are seen on screen. So if you are expecting an innovative storytelling structure, we’d advise you look elsewhere.
With a screenplay like that, it is up to Zellweger to save the movie with her unique charm. She does it relatively well, her girly persona growing onto you. Considering how Minnesota is a cold town, her comfortable acting does add warmth to the chill. The casting of roles isn’t all that bad. The capable actress is accompanied by Harry Connick Jr. (P. S. I Love You), J. K. Simmons (I Love You, Man) and Frances Conroy (The Tale of Despereaux), who take on equally unexciting but safe supporting roles in the movie.
This is a straightforward and insipid romantic comedy – no harm watching it on a lazy weekend to kill time with your loved one, but just do not expect too much takeaway. The predictability would leave you with little chuckles, and the undercooked picture will leave you somewhat dissatisfied.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains no extra features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
There is nothing to complain about the DVD’s visual transder, and the movie is presented in its original English audio tracks.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
Posted on 18 July 2009
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