New in Town on Blu-ray Disc Review
By Rachel Cericola
The Film
If the idea of Minnesota being painfully cold seems like an endless fountain of comedy, you might enjoy New in Town. This fish-out-of-water tale adds nothing new to the rom-com category. In fact, it seems to swipe some of the genre's crappiest parts.
Lucy (Renée Zellweger) is looking to make a career move. However, Minnesota is not exactly the move she wanted. Within the first 24 hours and jug of wine, her secretary Blanche Gunderson (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), who could be a long-distance relative of Fargo's Marge Gunderson, tries to set her up with Ted, the local union rep. Of course, Lucy finds him completely disgusting. C'mon honey; it's just Harry Connick with a beard!
Naturally, Lucy is a city girl. She wears high heels, hates the freezing cold and peeing in the woods. Is that so wrong? Despite twinges of
Baby Boom,
Gung Ho and
Sweet Home Alabama (which was also written by screenwriter C. Jay Cox), this movie is about as exciting as one of its main characters: tapioca. Also, as predictable as pudding, Lucy begins to like her new surroundings. You can figure out the rest.
Oh, and poor J.K. Simmons? We understand that the guy needs to be in
every movie. However, don't you think he should have called in sick for this one? You betcha!
Need another opinion? Check out Joe Lozito's review of the theatrical release of
New in Town.
The Picture
This 1.78:1 transfer is full of frozen tundra. Sure it's pretty, but does that make it watchable? Well, it's hard to think that anything could. However, it looks a little cool -- physically and literally. Colors reflect the cold temperatures, with most on the drab side of the spectrum. Other than that, there isn't much to look at, except for a lot of bad, itchy-looking beards and Zellweger's super-shiny stilettos.
The Sound
Like most romantic comedies,
New in Town pushes on the front speakers for most of the action. The dialogue is fine, but there isn't much else calling out for your surrounds -- and that includes a typical rom-com pop soundtrack. Kudos to Lionsgate for choosing to include a lossless surround track (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1), but in this case, it seems to be entirely unnecessary.
The Extras
New in Town has a plenty of extras, assuming you want to invest that much time in this underwhelming effort. The picture-in-picture commentary actually manages to be more boring than the actual movie. Maybe that's because it leaves out the film's two leads. The rest is quick and fairly painless. There's an 18-minute featurette about the Winnipeg weather (three words: It's unbelievably cold), a 6-minute short on tapioca, and almost 8 minutes on scrapbooking, which plays like in-flight entertainment.
Final Thoughts
Who knew it was humanly possible not to love a movie that puts so much focus on pudding? Aside for a hankering for delicious treats, New in Town offers up nothing new for the rom-com genre. That's right; a frigid female in frigid surroundings and funny accents don't always equal comedic gold. Proceed with caution, or at least a rental period.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
- Actors: Renée Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., J.K. Simmons, Frances Conroy, Siobhan Fallon Hogan
- Director: Jonas Elmer
- Audio/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (French)
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Region: A
- Number of Discs: 1
- Rating: PG
- Studio: Lionsgate
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: May 26, 2009
- Run Time: 97 minutes
- List Price: $39.99
- Extras:
- BonusView Picture-in-Picture Cast & Crew Commentary
- Making New in Town in Winnipeg, Canada
- Pudding's Delicious Role in New in Town
- The Folk Art of Scrapbooking
- MoLog Your Own Scrapbook Commentary
- Deleted Scenes
