2010, 12, Directed by Garry Marshall
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts
Assembling a mammoth cast of stars for a film that focuses on one particular time of the year is becoming something of a necessity in Hollywood, whether it is for money or fun. Love, Actually proved this could be both. Valentine’s Day struggles to continue this notion. Aptly set over the period of one day, we are intermittently introduced to a straggle of characters and their personal 14th February. Cue Julia Roberts here, Jessica Biel there and Jennifer Garner everywhere. Granted, the stories are easy to follow, and agreed, some of the character interaction remains somehow unexpected (a reveal near the film’s climax manages to tug at the heart strings). But the problem with Valentine’s Day is that there is an attempt to fit too much in to a running time that is already half an hour too long. With the A-list cast at his feet, Garry Marshall does his hardest to humanise these characters and their situations, but ultimately it does prove difficult to look past the fact that Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper and Jessica Alba are simply playing themselves for a large pay cheque. Nowhere near as bad as everyone makes out however…
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