I recently rented a few movies, including New in Town.  I was slightly interested in the movie when I saw the trailers, but not enough to go to the theater to see it.  

Executive Lucy Hill has a good life in Miami.  She is fine with over seeing the restructuring of a factory, but she is less than thrilled when her boss says she has to go to the plant and deal with everything from there.  Winter is in full force when Lucy arrives in Minnesota.  The locals aren't exactly welcoming, with some doing things to try to get her to leave.  As Lucy works on the plans, she starts to appreciate the town and the people, especially Ted, the local union representative.

The plot for New in Town is really simple and not that original.  Lucy is an executive use to warm weather in Miami that is sent to Minnesota in the middle of winter.  She is an intelligent woman, so you would think she would be smart enough to have warm clothes, but she doesn't.  She has to deal with the freezing cold and people around town while trying to do her job.  It isn't surprising when Lucy starts to change how she feels about the town and the people there.  The movie is very predictable and there aren't any surprises.  I was entertained by the movie, but it would have been better if the plot had been stronger.

There is humor in several scenes of New in Town.  The humors works alright with what is going on, but the movie could have been funnier.  A few jokes and attempts didn't work as well for me.  Most of the humor is tied to Lucy and her attempts to adjust to the harsh winter in Minnesota.  Some of those moments are fairly funny, though after a while all the jokes tied to her freezing or having trouble because of the cold get old.  It was very funny when Lucy went hunting with Ted and ended up stuck in the overalls and needs Ted's help.  The humor is decent for the most part, but it could have been stronger, which would have made the movie funnier overall.

New in Town is focused on Lucy settling in and working in the factory.  A small amount of romance is added without that being the main focus of the movie.  I think this is considered a romantic comedy, but it really isn't that romantic.  Lucy and Ted meet her first night in town and they don't exactly hit it off at that point.  There is a lot of hostility in their relationship at first, and then they start getting along better without really working through much of anything.  It is sudden change, though there is some motivation for it.  After that, it doesn't take long for them to start acting on their attraction.  There are only a few mild sexual situations in the movie and no sex scenes or nudity.  The relationship really doesn't add that much to the movie.

Lucy has a successful career in Miami and seems to be hoping for a promotion to vice president.  She really isn't that happy about going to Minnesota, but she is determined to do her job.  Her work ethic and methods don't exactly fit there.  She has a tendency to use a lot of bigger words, which doesn't go over well.  Renee Zellweger is fine in the part.  

Ted starts out acting like a jerk the first time he and Lucy meet.  He is made to look like a redneck hick at that point, and then he quickly changes and becomes the perfect guy.  It was very clear that his characterization was done that way just to try to create more tension between Ted and Lucy.  I don't think the change in Ted worked that well since it happened so quick.  Harry Connick Jr. is fine in the part.  Ted has a thirteen year old daughter, Bobbi, who turns up in a few scenes without much to do.  

Blanche is a local woman who ends up working as Lucy's secretary.  Blanche is nice, though not very sophisticated.  She makes a lot of tapioca pudding and is very protective of the recipe.  She, along with a few other women in town, do a lot of scrapbooking.  She was sort of made to look like a bit of a hick.  Siobhan Fallon Hogan is good in the part.  Blanche's husband Harve is in a few scenes without really doing anything.  Stu is the foreman at the plant who turns up a few times.  He is not that receptive to Lucy or her ideas.  J.K. Simmons does really well with the part.  The other employees of the plant and people from the town that are shown don't do that much and have basically no development.  Some of the people from the town are played by actors from around Winnipeg where the movie was filmed.

Main Cast

Harry Connick Jr. - Ted
Siobhan Fallon Hogan - Blanche
J.K. Simmons - Stu
Renee Zellweger - Lucy

Jonas Elmer - Director

DVD Information

I rented the widescreen version of New in Town.  I'm not sure if there is a full screen version available as well.  Making New in Town in Winnipeg, Canada is focused on the making of the movie.  Some footage showing the filming of various scenes is included. The cast and some of the crew talk about filming in Winnipeg in the winter.  The temperature was often forty or fifty below zero when they were filming outside.  Some of the men with beards are shown walking around with ice in their beards.  It was brought up how the camera kept freezing or lenses would crack because of the cold, which slowed up the filming.  The cast talked about wearing several layers and still being cold.  This was interesting, though it does make me question why that location was picked when there are other places that wouldn't have been that extremelly cold.

Pudding's Delicious Role in New in Town has some information about Blanche's tapioca.  The filming of one scene in which pudding plays an important role is also discussed and some footage from the filming is shared.  The Folk Art of Scrapbooking shares information about scrapbooking and show examples of scrapbooks that some people have created.  There are several deleted scenes, none of which really added much to the movie.  A few of them were mildly funny.  There is also a commentary with the cast and crew that I didn't listen to.

New in Town is a mildly entertaining comedy that fans of the cast may enjoy.  The movie isn't horrible, but it isn't that great either.

This review is part of elvisdo's 2009 Canadian Write Off.  The movie was filmed in Winnipeg and a few of the actors in smaller parts are from Winnipeg.

Renee Zellweger Reviews
Appaloosa ~ Bee Movie ~ Chicago ~ Cold Mountain ~ Leatherheads ~ Nurse Betty ~ Shark Tale ~

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD