Valentine's Day - Mini-review

I went to see Valentine's Day today with three girlfriends, and we enjoyed the film, and laughed out loud at several parts.  It was a fun movie to see this weekend, but it just didn't have the heart of a film like Love, Actually.  Love, Actually is one of my all time favorite romantic films, one I could rewatch any day of the week.  Valentine's Day was a light confection, but not something that's going to have staying power for me.

Garry Marshall got what seems like every star in Hollywood to take part in this multiple storyline movie, and that's part of the problem.  There are so many characters and storylines, that it ends up having the depth of a puddle.  It was enjoyable.  They are all pretty to look at.  I laughed.  But at no time were my heartstrings pulled like that scene in Love, Actually when Emma Thompson gets the CD for Christmas from her husband instead of the necklace and she realizes he's having an affair.  Just try not to cry as she attempts to pull it together to go to the Christmas play with her kids.

I thought Anne Hathaway was one of the best actors, as a young temp who's trying to pay off her student loan debt by being a phone sex operator.  I also liked the Bradley Cooper/Eric Dane storyline very much.  Eric Dane as the football player facing possible retirement makes the biggest Valentine's gesture of the entire film.

There's a neat scene in the film where Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo reunite while an old film is playing outdoors in a park.  The film that's playing in the background is one of Shirley MacLaine's first films, Hot Spell, from 1958.   Hector's character points to her on the screen and tells Topher Grace's character, "That's the girl I fell in love with."

So far, Valentine's Day seems to be coming out on top for the box office this weekend.  Plans are already in place for a sequel of sorts, another multi-storyline film about New Year's Eve.  Trim down the cast list a mite, if you please, and how about a little more diversity in the cast.

I give Valentine's Day 2 and a half stars.  It's a fun chick flick to see with your gal pals, but I'd pay the matinee price.

Stay around for the credits, as there's a funny joke with Julia Roberts as she drives down Rodeo Drive.