Predictable plot

Yes, it’s that time of year again when the corporate fat-cats in Hollywood try to capitalise on the festive season by churning out yet another holiday movie.

Some of my least favourite holiday themed movies include Jingle All The Way, Valentine’s Day and Hop, but New Year’s Eve has to be the tackiest, most dismal and pointless one so far.

As I sat through this ridiculous release, I began to wonder about some better uses for the cash it took to produce the film. The highlights include strapping lasers to all sharks so they can have a hot meal, building a life-sized Lego replica of the Death Star from Star Wars and, my personal favourite, funding the Charlie Holding charity for disadvantaged gerbils.

The ‘plot’ (and I use that word very loosely) revolves around, you guessed it, New Year’s Eve and the problems that come with it.

Set in New York City, the movie focuses on a group of people all racing towards the countdown to the New Year; with so many sub-plots attempting to intertwine it makes your head spin. Some of the more interesting ones include bike messenger (Zac Efron) helping an elderly secretary (a surprisingly frumpy Michelle Pfeiffer) with a list of resolutions, two families competing to have the year’s first baby and the relationship between a single mum (Sarah Jessica Parker) trying to see eye to eye with her overly dramatic teenage daughter.

There is also an aside to a stubborn terminally ill cancer patient (Robert De Niro) who refuses treatment and only wants to see in one more year. His suffering nurse (Halle Berry) tries to make him as comfortable as possible. It’s a nice bit to be fair, but nowhere near good enough to save this disaster of a movie.

Arguably, the main focus of the movie is the relationship between Randy (Kutcher) and Elise (Lea Michele). Randy is a comic book artist who hates New Year’s Eve because it’s the date his girlfriend left him and as for Elise, well, she’s a little more complicated.

Elise is an aspiring singer who is set to perform backing vocals for a rock star at a New Year’s concert. As luck would have it, the rocker in question is Jon Bon Jovi but for some reason he’s not playing himself ... I couldn’t quite work that one out but I loved the irony of a real famous rock star portraying ... a fictitious famous rock star.

 However, Elise and Randy’s plans for the night change drastically in an instant when they get stuck in a lift together.

Despite having an impressive cast of stars, the film still fails to shine because of the poor script and lack of any real character depth. However, the worst part about films like this is that they’re so painfully predictable I was able to guess the ending halfway through.

In my opinion, this movie is more about making money than telling a decent story. However, with all the big names appearing in the film I’m pretty certain that any money it makes will be spent paying the cast.

In case you were wondering, my New Year’s resolution is to stay clear of films like this!

Showing in Cineco, Seef II and Saar Cineplex