Review: New Year’s Eve (12A) (From The Northern Echo)

Film Review: New Year’s Eve (12A)

6:24pm Thursday 8th December 2011 in Reviews By Steve Pratt

Rating: 3/5

CHRISTMAS hasn’t happened yet, but already we’re celebrating New Year’s Eve in a film from the same team, led by director Garry Marshall, that gave us Valentine’s Day.

The format is much the same – a couple of dozen characters feature in multiple stories, some of which are connected to each other.

But the ensemble cast beats Valentine’s Day for sheer star power with Oscar winners and nominees (Halle Berry, Robert De Niro, Hilary Swank, Michelle Pfeiffer and Abigail Breslin) shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Ashton Kutcher and Lea Michele from Glee.

The stories all revolve around love and forgiveness tinged with a peculiarly American sentimentality but I’d rank this above Valentine’s Day for enjoyment.

Swank’s organising the famous midnight “ball drop” in New York’s Times Square, De Niro’s dying from a terminal disease, Pfeiffer’s timid office worker lives out her dreams thanks to motorcycle messenger Zac Efron and Parker looks for lurve.

And a happy new year to you all.