“New in Town” has so little to recommend it that it’s surprising it was released. Neither Renée Zellweger nor Harry Connick Jr. has enough star power or chemistry to make this more than a forgettable romantic comedy. And when your most interesting character is one of the supporting cast, you know there’s a problem. Lucy Hill (Zellweger), a tough career woman, is sent from corporate headquarters in Miami to frigid Minnesota to optimize a local factory’s output. Lucy is shocked by the small town attitudes of the people and their lack of sophistication, especially from her secretary, Blanche Gunderson (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), and the local union representative, Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick Jr.). Although Blanche tries to help her, Lucy is only interested in getting the job done and returning to Florida. Of course, the script requires that Lucy do a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn-around from unfeeling corporate gunslinger to someone who wants only what’s best for the factory workers. And the romance requires that Lucy and Ted fall in love.
Obviously, the screenplay by Kenneth Rance and C. Jay Cox leaves a lot to be desired. Instead of intelligent, witty banter between Lucy and Ted, we get spitting and shouting, much like cats and dogs fighting. There’s no romantic tension between these two plus Zellweger and Connick, Jr. are poorly matched. In fact, their relationship is so underdeveloped that it’s hard to believe they have fallen for each other. That leaves Blanche as the only interesting character. She’s more developed; she’s helpful, caring, into scraping (making scrapbooks), and makes the world’s best tapioca pudding. “New in Town” tries much too hard to be agreeable and uplifting. It succeeds in being disagreeable. 2/2/09
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