Film review: Valentine's Day (12A) (From Chorley Citizen)

Film review: Valentine's Day (12A)

4:58pm Friday 12th February 2010 in

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Running time:124 mins. Starring: Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts, Bryce Robinson, Taylor Swift. Director: Garry Marshall.

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 bare 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 (Kutcher) proposes to career-driven girlfriend Morley (Alba) and miraculously she accepts, to the surprise of his happily married right-hand man Alphonso (Lopez) and teacher best friend Julia (Garner).

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

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