Valentine's Day : Movie Review

Valentine’s Day is a film comprised of several different romantic or loving stories that are interwoven through every day connections. Like, the main character proposes to his girlfriend. His best friend is dating
a doctor. Her friend is throwing a party dedicated to hating Valentine’s Day.
She is an agent for a football star. And so on. Some of the characters and
plots have more bearing on the ‘over arching’ plot than others, and some seem
fleetingly tagged on.

And that’s one of several dangers in doing films with huge casts. There is only so much time a movie can run. Romantic comedies are not known to be epic films, and that shortens the time we, the audience, gets to
spend with each character severely. The more people we need to meet and get
attached to, the less time to go around. It’s just math. As a result, some
stories and plots are left a little underdeveloped.

With a set up like this (rom com, tons of recognizable faces, holiday) it’s hard not to think about Love Actually and want to compare them. So I’ll take some time to do just that. Love Actually is better. Much
better. It handles character development and the subtle relationships between
people better, and it’s just more enjoyable. Writing is an issue here, just as
pacing and directing are. The script for Valentine’s Day wasn’t as fluffy, romantic,
funny or, ultimately, loving as one
might expect for a movie based on and named for the day where love is meant to
be its most potent.

A lot of the stories were focused on the downside of love. Love lost, love dying, love faked. Sure, there are happy twists by the end for some of the characters, but there are still those that are left alone. The
weird thing was that, very close to the end, the movie decides to check in with
these lonely and sad people just to wrap them up in their misery. It wasn’t the
most romantic thing, even if it was ‘life true’. Some people are hurt by love
or, more accurately as this movie sees it, hurt themselves and others.

The acting was good, even if the characters some times felt thrown at one another, or incomplete. Julia Roberts was on screen collectively for what had to be less than ten minutes, but her story was compelling on its
own. Simple. Sweet. Gives that warm, fuzzy feeling when you see something cute.
Bradley Cooper’s scenes were the same way. Some of the stories got that feeling
right, but I was expecting it from everyone, and didn’t get it. The film also
seemed to be suffering from the same confusion about love and sex that two of
its teenage characters were going through, which was odd.

The star studded cast will have the power to draw in their fans who, in turn, will like their stories. Kathy Bates and Queen Latifah are seriously underused, while the ‘main’ story is spearheaded by Ashton Kutcher
and Jennifer Garner, who both do fine. Topher Grace and Anne Hathaway share a
story that is so awkwardly uncomfortable that it almost passes as likeable.
Jamie Foxx is actually relaxed and kind of funny again, and George Lopez hands
in a very sweet performance as a best friend. The Taylors, Lautner and Swift, are forgettable
fluff. Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo are a bit contrived, but still
adorable, as life long couple facing a bump in the road. And the rest are all…
in there.

Inevitably, people will enjoy this movie. It does have some moments of romantic high points that Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about, in an ideal world. And maybe that’s what I was expecting the whole movie to be
about. Reckless, happy, engaging, sweet, brain meltingly, almost painful romance.
Instead it was much more subdued, staying in the realm of cute and simple
instead. And that’s fine, for what it is.

It would make a great rental for a night in.

Grade: C