Plot summary (with possible spoilers:) Lucy Hill (played by Renée Zellweger) is a big-shot executive at a Miami firm. One of the firm’s subsidiaries, a food processing plant in New Ulm, MN, has been underperforming for quite some time. The president has decided to cut losses at the New Ulm plant by releasing most of the work force and replacing the old equipment with high-tech robotics to streamline operating costs. Lucy will be in charge of the project.
Lucy heads to New Ulm, where she’s met by Blanche (Siobhan Fallon), a scrapbooking, tapioca-loving woman who will serve as Lucy’s secretary. Blanche does her best to make Lucy feel welcome, but it’s clear that they are just from completely different worlds. Nevertheless, Lucy accepts a dinner invitation to Blanche’s house on her first night in New Ulm. There she meets Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick, Jr.), whom Blanche clearly intended to set her up with. The only problem with that is Lucy and Ted disagree about nearly every subject that comes up during dinner, and Ted ends up leaving in disgust — over Lucy’s feelings about how successful Fergie is.
The next day, Lucy heads to the plant, where most of the workers, including foreman Stu Kopenhafer (JK Simmons), view her with complete distrust. They do their best to humiliate her, and manage to convince her that the plant will be closed the next day to celebrate Beaver Day (or some kind of made-up holiday like that). When Lucy finds out the truth, she actually takes it rather well and goes to a bar where most of the workers are hanging out to talk to them some more. But they engage in more juvenile behavior intended to show their intense dislike, so she gives up on them.
Meanwhile, Lucy learns to her horror that Ted is the head of the union, so she must negotiate with him about all the upcoming changes. Neither of them are particularly happy about the arrangement, but they can’t get around spending time with each other. Their relationship heats up considerably when Ted’s teenage daughter has a Valentine’s Day emergency requiring a woman’s help. Lucy swoops in to save the day with a shopping spree and trip to a hair salon, and she and Ted end up getting to know each other on his couch.
As Ted and Lucy’s relationship develops, the imminent layoffs hang over Lucy’s head. Once the workers find out what’s going to happen, everyone blames Lucy, including Blanche and Ted. But Lucy, who has grown to like these people, comes up with a plan (involving Blanche’s tapioca pudding) to save the plant. This being a romantic comedy, the plan works out perfectly. Jobs are saved, Lucy becomes a hero, and she and Ted end up together.
My Reaction: Even though she hasn’t had a hit in quite some time, I like Renée Zellweger. She reminds me of one of my favorite high school teachers, and I just can’t get past that. So I try to watch and enjoy her films despite all the negative reviews from professional critics.
The problem is, there’s sometimes very little to like — which was the case with New in Town. Right from the beginning, the entire premise seemed completely familiar and staggeringly unoriginal. Anyone who has ever watched movies before could figure out the entire plot after 15 minutes, making the rest of the film boring. The writer took zero chances and offered zero surprises. It was a paint-by-numbers script that felt completely lifeless and generic.
Furthermore, I didn’t like how so many of the supporting cast chose to adopt Fargo-like accents for their characters. Yes, I know both movies take place in Minnesota, but still. That was just another way in which the film hammered home its unoriginality.
Nevertheless, I thought New in Town was watchable — just barely. Thanks to Zellweger and an almost unrecognizable Harry Connick Jr., I found myself sort of interested in what was happening on screen. But that just helped bring the rating up to 5 stars out of 10.