New Year's Eve (2011)

Artwork for Theatrical Release

Let me say, straight off, that I don't mind ensemble films like this.  They are nearly as old as cinema itself [think The Women (1939)].

Having said that, I must defend these films.  Often people don't come to the film with a clear understanding of the sheer math of the situation, and the way that changes the dynamics of the film.

First billing alone, there are 17 actors/actresses.  On a movie that is 118 minutes, that is an average of less than 7 minutes of screen time per person.  And that doesn't include the very recognizable and sometimes bigger stars that make cameos or simply didn't want to be billed first.

They include John Lithgow, Carla Gugino, Common, Cary Elwes, Russell Peters, Yeardley Smith, Penny Marshall, Hector Elizondo, Ryan Seacrest, Alyssa Milano, Jim Belushi, Matthew Broderick, Cherry Jones, Michael Bloomberg, and Larry Miller, and those are just the ones that I recognized and could name.  I will save you the math with these names added.

The movie itself is not bad.  It's full of cliches.  It's full of flat characters.  And it's full of stereotypes.  But what else can you expect in a film that has at least 6 story arcs and multiple minor ones.

It has some great moments with Seth Meyers, some uniquely phenomenal acting from Robert Deniro, John Lithgow, Halle Berry, and Hilary Swank, and some of the shots are even great.

It's not better than Valentine's Day (2010), and nowhere near Paris je t'aime (2006), so save yourself the hassle and watch those.  Unless you've seen them, and have a major crush on most of the people in this film, like I do, in which case watch it.

But be warned, half way through, you won't care what happens, my wife didn't and off she went to browse the web on her iPad.