New In Town Review

Sort of a weird combination of the Coen's Brothers Academy Award winning dark comedy Fargo, and Disney's Snow Dogs, the 2009 romantic comedy New In Town, chronicles the travails of a single female executive who experiences culture shock in a big way, when she relocates from sunny Miami to a small Minnesota town in the winter. Despite a formulaic, and highly predicable plot, this film succeeds on the strength of strong performances by a fine ensemble cast.

Lucy Hill (Renee Zellwegger) a successful executive with a Miami based corporation, is given the difficult task of modernizing a small manufacturing plant in the remote town of Ulum, Minnesota in the dead of winter. Despite a warm greeting by the plant secretary, Blanche Gunderson (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) Lucy is met with a chilly reception by the Plant Manager, Stu (J. K. Simmons) and Union Representive Ted Mitchell, (Harry Connick Jr.) who have learned to associate relocation of corporate executives with lay-offs.

As expected, Lucy has a difficult time adjusting to small town life, where the most exciting activities in daily life are scrapbooking and ice fishing. However, after a few weeks, she finds herself warming up to the small town and its genuine, down to earth inhabitants. Just when she finds herself developing a romantic relationship with Ted, corporate orders her to close the plant. Lucy and the residents of Ulum must come up with plan to turn the fortune of the company around quickly, before corporate closes the doors.

As mentioned earlier, this film has a lot in common with a variety of other romantic comedies including a rocky first impression, conflcit over male vs females roles in a small town, and culture shock. However, strong lead performances by Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. turn an ordinary romance into a charming adventure. Siobhan Fallon Hogan also does an excellent job adopting the local dialog and mores of small town Minnesota, so much so, that she steals most of the big scenes.

Overall, New In Town, is a mildly entertaining, heartwarming story about the true measure of success, that the whole family can enjoy. Despite it's predictable ending, it provides plenty of small town humor, while managing to tug at the heartstrings as well .