Release Date: February 12, 2010
Studio: New Line Cinema (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Director: Garry Marshall
Screenwriter: Katherine Fugate
Starring: Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift
Genre: Comedy, Romance
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for some sexual material and brief partial nudity)
Official Website: ValentinesDaymovie.com
Review: 3/10 rating | 5/10 rating
Story: While Valentine's Day is allegedly the busiest time of the year for the delivery of mushy messages and corny love trinkets all around town, the same should never be the case in a movie. Hyperactively busy in the extreme while negotiating endless crisscross plot lines between way too cute celeb cameos that include geriatric infidelity and worse, Garry Marshall's Valentine's Day is skits-ophrenic moviemaking when less would have indeed been much more.
In other words, where does one begin. It's Valentine's Day morning in LA, and shy guy florist deliveryman Reed (Ashton Kutcher) wakes up extra early to propose marriage to ambivalent girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba), who seems to more attached to her cellphone. Literally. Which means that Reed has to figure out just how to pry her fingers loose from the notoriously addictive gadget, in order to find that spare finger for his engagement ring.
While on another side of town, anxious television news anchor Kelvin (Jamie Foxx) has just been demoted to puff piece patrol to sniff out human interest holiday stories, while the weathergirl taps dances away to stimulate the sagging ratings. And which Kelvin needs to wrap up, before jogging over to a press conference at which a famous athlete will announce he's gay.
Elsewhere, giddy grade school teacher Julia (Jennifer Garner) who is otherwise fairly luckless in romance, daydreams between classroom lessons about her current surprise requited crush on a possibly too good to be true affectionate physician. This while a more sensible and stern army captain (Julia Roberts) shares a philosophical plane ride with a mysterious stranger. Who will actually get to have the last word eventually in wrapping up this overly crowded scenario, that seems less like a smoothly paced script than a rush hour traffic jam on the LA freeway.
But there's more. Also getting in on the act for some dubious comic relief, is Jessica Biel as a thoroughly unconvincing sad sack who can't get a date. As a frantic Anne Hathaway appears to be revisiting her persecuted workplace drudge in The Devil Wears Prada, with Queen Latifah seemingly preempting Meryl Streep this time around, doing The Devil Wears Plus Size Prada.
And while Hathaway moonlights on the sly during work hours as a phone sex operator to make ends meet and pay for her health insurance and outstanding student loan, her dirty talk conversations are so lame PG, that the actual phone sex industry may end up losing business. Though Queen Latifah's boss from hell secretive impulse to move in and take over Hathaway's seductive operation with virtual bullwhip in hand, couldn't be funnier and saves this collaborative mayhem from looming movie overkill.
Jennifer Garner as Julia Fitzpatrick and Ashton Kutcher as Reed Bennett in in a still from the newly released Hollywood romantic comedy movie Valentine’s Day. The movie which was premiered in the US on Tuesday releases in India on Friday.
Bipasha Basu is seen here posing with a heart-shaped balloon at Gili’s ‘Season of Love’ event in Mumbai.
Bipasha Basu, while on another promotional activity, had to face accusations of starry tantrums, breach of contract, abusive behaviour, harassment, and what not in Delhi recently. Bipasha and Shemaroo say that she was being coerced into being part of the hotel chairman’s birthday celebrations, though the chairman of the hotel denies this. Her PR team says, “Initially, Bipasha was supposed to release the DVD in Delhi on February 4 and in Mumbai on February 5, but since John had time on the fourth, they launched the DVD in Mumbai first.”
In another tidbit, we have John Abraham making you smile, in his preparations for Valentine Day when John was queried about his plan, ‘Dumbbells’ as a plan for Valentine gift to Bipasha Basu. Anyway the couple proved a successful pair in a seven year relationship.
Now here is what the beautiful Bong actress has for her Valentine’s Day celebrations: she is launching a month long festival of love in Bombay, sorry Mumbai. Who knows whether she may have to apologize for the ‘act’ that can be interpreted as against ‘Indian culture’ notwithstanding the thousand year-old sculptures in Khajuraho and even our own Maharashtra that celebrates love in real flesh and blood form, though sculpted in stone and painted on the walls of caves like Ajanta and Ellolra. After all you have to have a sharp memory to remember that when Bada Paav was young Valentine’s Day was unheard of in his circles, and while he is making the throne ready for Chhota Paav, and Bhaji Paav is trying to prove that he is the real heir. For that something has to be done; whether it is making Karan apologize or stalling Shah Rukh Khan’s My Name Is Khan. However, SRK owes a big THANKS to Bada Paav because, My Name Is Khan’s publicity has been done for FREE for him, and he can expect it to be the biggest hit of his career.
