Life, 'Valentine's Day' like a box of chocolates
Julia (Jennifer Garner) exprssing her, uh, love for Valentine's Day. (Warner Bros.)
Valentine's Day
Running time: 117 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 (mild profanity, adult situations, brief partial nudity)
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Like an oversized box of assorted chocolates, "Valentine's Day" soothes the sugary sweet craving at first, includes a mixed nut or two and grows stale before it's all gone.
A sizable all-star ensemble cast headed by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Anne Hathaway, but including Jessica Alba, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper and others, goes through every possible emotion from an early Valentine's Day morning until just after midnight, when the bloom falls off the roses.
Directed by Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman," "The Princess Diaries"), one Hollywood's most grandiose love bug devotees, "Valentine's Day" is "Crash" for the hopelessly romantic.
This exercise in puppy love, young love, adult love and senior love lost and found intermingles characters and story lines until they either tie up in a tidy little bow, blow up completely or just sort of fizzle out.
Marshall and screenwriter Katherine Fugate ("The Prince & Me," 2004), though often bowing to the obvious and contrived offbeat, do occasionally touch the heart with a meaningful surprise.
What I like best about "Valentine's Day" is the casting. Marshall's long history in Hollywood allows the crafty veteran filmmaker to call in favors, which equates to the impressive all-star lineup.
Marshall gave a huge career shove to Julia Roberts in 1990 and Anne Hathaway a decade later. What's impressive here is that they are, to some extent, cast against type.
Hathaway, who played a clumsy 15-year-old thrust into royal formality in "The Princess Diaries," portrays a sweet looking office temp whose real job is as an "adult phone entertainer." Liz (Hathaway) is trying to pay off a hundred thou in student loans as a phone sex mistress.
Roberts, who drew an Oscar nomination as the beautiful, witty hooker of "Pretty Woman," shows up fatigued and in Army fatigues. She's Capt. Kate Hazeltine, on a 14-hour flight to L.A. to reunite with a very special someone on the most romantic day of the year.
Actually, we don't see too much of Roberts. But her niece Emma Roberts is front-and-center as Grace, a high school student determined to take her romance with boyfriend Alex (Carter Jenkins) to the ultimate intimate level, if you know what I mean.
Unfortunately, "Valentine's Day" lingers too long on screen to tie up all the loose ends. Bonds are forged. Hearts are broken and sometimes repaired in time for the closing credits.
Oddly enough, an Academy Award-winning actor's enormous talents are wasted in a less-than-challenging role as a TV sportscaster. Also, a young, Grammy award-winning country singer steals every scene she's in with a goofy persona, a huge stuffed bear and, like, Valley Girl speak.
Weep not for Jamie Foxx, though. The star of "Ray" will be back in a big way. And Swift, if she ever tires of picking up music awards, could make a splash in Hollywood.
That's the way it is in "Valentine's Day" (and a big box of chocolates), you never know what you'll get in the sugary assortment.
A sizable all-star ensemble cast headed by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Anne Hathaway, but including Jessica Alba, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper and others, goes through every possible emotion from an early Valentine's Day morning until just after midnight, when the bloom falls off the roses.
Directed by Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman," "The Princess Diaries"), one Hollywood's most grandiose love bug devotees, "Valentine's Day" is "Crash" for the hopelessly romantic.
This exercise in puppy love, young love, adult love and senior love lost and found intermingles characters and story lines until they either tie up in a tidy little bow, blow up completely or just sort of fizzle out.
Marshall and screenwriter Katherine Fugate ("The Prince & Me," 2004), though often bowing to the obvious and contrived offbeat, do occasionally touch the heart with a meaningful surprise.
What I like best about "Valentine's Day" is the casting. Marshall's long history in Hollywood allows the crafty veteran filmmaker to call in favors, which equates to the impressive all-star lineup.
Marshall gave a huge career shove to Julia Roberts in 1990 and Anne Hathaway a decade later. What's impressive here is that they are, to some extent, cast against type.
Hathaway, who played a clumsy 15-year-old thrust into royal formality in "The Princess Diaries," portrays a sweet looking office temp whose real job is as an "adult phone entertainer." Liz (Hathaway) is trying to pay off a hundred thou in student loans as a phone sex mistress.
Roberts, who drew an Oscar nomination as the beautiful, witty hooker of "Pretty Woman," shows up fatigued and in Army fatigues. She's Capt. Kate Hazeltine, on a 14-hour flight to L.A. to reunite with a very special someone on the most romantic day of the year.
Actually, we don't see too much of Roberts. But her niece Emma Roberts is front-and-center as Grace, a high school student determined to take her romance with boyfriend Alex (Carter Jenkins) to the ultimate intimate level, if you know what I mean.
Unfortunately, "Valentine's Day" lingers too long on screen to tie up all the loose ends. Bonds are forged. Hearts are broken and sometimes repaired in time for the closing credits.
Oddly enough, an Academy Award-winning actor's enormous talents are wasted in a less-than-challenging role as a TV sportscaster. Also, a young, Grammy award-winning country singer steals every scene she's in with a goofy persona, a huge stuffed bear and, like, Valley Girl speak.
Weep not for Jamie Foxx, though. The star of "Ray" will be back in a big way. And Swift, if she ever tires of picking up music awards, could make a splash in Hollywood.
That's the way it is in "Valentine's Day" (and a big box of chocolates), you never know what you'll get in the sugary assortment.
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