New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Day is a disaster movie masquerading as an ensemble romantic comedy. Think of it as The Towering Inferno without 138 stories of burning skyscraper, people dying of smoke inhalation, and, of course, Steve McQueen or Paul Newman for that matter. Like Irwin Allen’s overwrought multi-character melodrama, it is easy to get caught up in one or two of the stories.
After last year’s commercial success of the poorly reviewed Valentine’s Day, Warner Bros. Pictures surely saw the financial incentive in green-lighting another star-studded rom-com under the steady administration of Garry Marshall. After all, Marshall has a good track record—he is the guy who gave us Pretty Woman—and he often works with the same collection of popular talent, which means that actors like him. So it stands to reason that Marshall would be the perfect choice to manage—dare I say direct—a movie featuring cameos by some of Hollywood’s biggest names. The fact that he makes this kind of weak material work at all is a testament to his ability and explains his enduring appeal.
The plot unfolds over the course of one day and is understandably rushed, with little time spent developing any one character. The script is nothing more than an excuse to work as many familiar faces as possible onto the screen, and the Big Apple’s end-of-the-year bash provides a good canvas.