Valentine’s Day

Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Patrick Dempsey, Jennifer Garner and Shirley McLaine
Releasing in cinemas: 11 February 2010
Rated: M

Large cast star in romantic escapades

Periodically the cinema comes up with a movie where a group of people are united by their efforts to find love; starting with Max Ophul’s 1950 French charmer La Ronde (Love’s Roundabout) and more recently the popular Love, Actually. Garry Marshall, director of Pretty Woman and He’s Just Not That Into You gives it a try now with Valentine’s Day, a potpourri of multi-generational love stories featuring a star cast which lists for about five minutes in the opening credits.

The results are a fragmented romantic comedy which never quite reaches the heights to which it aspires. There’s a serious drawback to this style of film. One of the problems with a large cast appearing in what are essentially cameo roles is they never really establish depth of character. A snappy clever script can assist matters as it did in Love, Actually. Marshall has opted to use easily recognized popular actors to help audiences relate to the characters but he lacks pizazz in the script department. In fact it's that big star cast that makes this movie watchable.

The film follows ten couples in Los Angeles who break up and make up under the pressure of Valentine’s Day. Their stories are soon interlinked by fate threading its way through a variety of relationships, from first dates to longtime commitments, from young crushes to old flames, and from perpetual singles to unrequited love. The plot kicks off when Reed Bennet (Ashton Kutcher) wakes his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) trying to put a diamond ring on her finger only to find her clutching her Blackberry.

With more than a touch of uncertainty Morley accepts Bennet’s proposal of marriage, which sets this roundabout in motion. Bennet’s the proprietor of a florist shop and café, the hot centre of action on Valentine’s Day. He certainly knows all the scandal about town from the messages sent with the flowers. He thus links to other couples who soon discover Valentine’s Day has mixed blessings, some finding romance but some falling out of love with loneliness waiting in the wings. There's even a Hate Valentine's Day party. Around and round we go.

The stellar cast includes Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Hector Elizondo, Emma Roberts, and Shirley McLaine. Ashton Kutcher (What Happens In Vegas) gets the biggest grab at the action. Not sure Garry Marshall can be blamed for his writers' (Abby Khon and Marc Silverstein) failure to furnish their characters with enough sight or verbal gags to keep the audience happy. In fact really funny moments are few; and it's always a concern when the out-takes with the end credits are more amusing than the gags in the movie.

At least veteran trooper Shirley McLaine (Closing The Ring) provides one inspired scene. Having had a tiff with husband in the film, Hector Elizondo, she turns up at curious romantic night screening in a Los Angeles cemetery where lovers picnic on the graves and watch a movie. Apparently this is a popular Valentine’s Day tradition in LA, perhaps inspired by the Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’. Shirley acts out her role while behind her on the screen in the cemetery we see the elfin ghost of her youthful self playing in the B&W 1958 movie Hot Spell.

Old favourites on the soundtrack emphasize the basic theme ‘all we want is love - but it’s a confusing joy.’ Winding up the ending is lengthy, and a little too sugary for comfort. That said there's enough romance to satisfy fans of the genre, and because the various encounters are relatively brief, it manages to maintain interest. Valentine’s Day falls short of both Pretty Woman and the amusing Love, Actually but it remains pleasant entertainment for a girls' night out.

John Bale