Film of the week: Valentine's Day (12a)

Damon Smith • Published 21 Feb 2010 09:00 0 Comments

SINGLETONS of the world unite.

Let us denounce Valentine's Day as a conspiracy by florists and greetings card companies to pray upon our loneliness by flogging us over-priced red roses and sappy declarations of undying love.

Why should we all feel compelled to bear our souls on February 14, when any other day of the year would do just as well and isn't nearly as expensive?

"It's Valentine's Day. You don't think, you just do," chirps one of the sappy, loved-up characters in Garry Marshall's sugar-coated tale of romance and heartbreak - an ensemble piece that suggests screenwriter Katherine Fugate has overdosed on Richard Curtis's comedy Love Actually and decided to pen her own version, set in the sun-baked streets of Los Angeles.

Two hours isn't long enough to fully develop more than 20 major protagonists and their storylines, and Garry Marshall's film runs the risk of being little more than cinematic candy floss.

However, amidst the gooey sentiments and shameless wish fulfilment - subtlety isn't one of Fugate's strengths - there are some big laughs and eye-catching performances from a stellar cast, who appear to be having a ball.

As the sun rises on the city, florist Reed (Ashton Kutcher) proposes to career-driven girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) and miraculously she accepts, to the surprise of his happily married right-hand man Alphonso (George Lopez) and teacher best friend Julia (Jennifer Garner).

Elsewhere, Julia's fifth grade student Edison (Bryce Robinson) plots a surprise, the tyke's grandparents Estelle (Shirley MacLaine) and Edgar (Hectar Elizondo) celebrate another year together, and TV sports reporter Kelvin (Jamie Foxx) woos agent Paula (Queen Latifah) and publicist Kara (Jessica Biel) for an exclusive on American football quarterback, Sean Jackson (Eric Dane).

Meanwhile, in the skies above Los Angeles, US Army Captain Kate Hazeltine (Julia Roberts) shares her excitement about a surprise reunion with fellow passenger Holden (Bradley Cooper).

Valentine's Day is a morass of cloying fairytale romances across the generations that predominantly end with a happy ever after or, at the very least, a comeuppance and emotional closure.

Some of the plot strands are hopelessly contrived and characters, such as Biel's lonely workaholic, could have been cut entirely.

However, there are some charming distractions such as Julia's revenge for a betrayal, and the interplay between MacLaine and Elizondo, which comes to a head at an open-air film screening of the 1958 film Hot Spell, starring a young, fresh-faced... MacLaine.

Mimicking Love Actually, Robinson is by turns adorable and winsome as the 10-year old, who realises he is sweet on a classmate because: "She's the only other fifth grader who has Frank Zappa on her iPod... and she likes giraffes."

You'll need a very sweet tooth to stomach all of the saccharine outpourings, culminating in some amusing out-takes over the end credits.

Tweet

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 18 Feb 10

Post a comment

Your Comment:

Registered users log in here

Username or email

Password

If you are registered with us, you can login here. If you are not registered, do so now.
Once logged in you wont have to complete word verification each time you post.

Prefer not to register?

Screen Name *required

Email (not displayed) *required

Usernames must be 4 - 20 characters. Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users can also take part in competitions and other features of the site.

Word Verification:
Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our The Guide archives.

Follow @rdgchronicle