(2012-04-17 01:06:31)

Difficult to love...

This review is from: Valentine's Day (Amazon Instant Video) I watched this with relatively low expectations, and they were disappointed! The film has no cohesive plot structure, just a series of meaningless(except Julia Roberts and Bradley Coopers)stories that are supposed to make sense and connect, but are really just boring. The characters are all very underdeveloped, and I didn't really care about anyone(except the above mentioned). I wouldn't recommend this film, especially not if you are thinking it might be like the charming Love Actually.

(2012-04-16 18:28:59)

Surprisingly enjoyable

A star-laden film containing several interconnected plotlines involving people either in love, falling in love, falling out of love, or wanting love. It is Valentines Day (surprise!) and the personal lives of multiple people are affected in different ways. At times, funny, other times touching, the film was effective at weaving together many different storylines without short-changing any of them, or being difficult to follow. A fun film for an evening out with your significant other, or, if you don't have someone, see it alone.

callmebond

(2012-04-04 09:54:45)

hell lot of fun. :)

This is one of the movies that i've waited the most since last year andit's worth the wait. Watching it is a hell lot of fun. It's romantic,it's funny, it's rom-com. It's all about LOVE-LOVE-LOVE. :)) I enjoyedthe movie so much. The movie revolves around the intertwined lives ofdifferent people in LA on that particular day-Valentines Day. And yeah,most of those people are played by some of the biggest names inHollywood.The story of their lives on that day are so cute. And somehow I canrelate to Kara's (Jessica Biel) story. lol. Also, it seemed to me thatAshton Kutcher was the main character. I don't know if its just me,but..whatever. :)) Have I already mentioned how cute Taylor Swift was?She was like this chic that was like so lovable. She was like my majorcrush. lol. Also, Anne Hathaway was hot as ever. In this movie lovecomes in different ways. From the so-called puppy love, to high schoollove, to mid-aged love and the old-aged love. The puppy love story wasso fun to watch. The boy (i forgot his name) made me laugh when he hadhis teacher as his Valentine. Another interesting story was the onethat involved Kutcher, Garner, Alba, and Dempsey, I wouldn't spoil itfor you so you better watch it. The Taylors make a good couple too. Andoh, keep your eyes open because there was this some sort of a surprisethat made me say WTF inside the cinema. Let's just say it was anunusual relationship to avoid spoilers. And I have to admit, I didn'tsee that coming.So overall, the movie is very entertaining. However, I must say, don'texpect much from its trailer. But one thing's for sure, you'll startand end the movie with a smile on your face.PS: And yes, for singles out there who are undecided to watch it, gofor it. It's OK. It will take your bitterness away. ;D

Brian Orndorf

(2012-04-04 06:32:31)

I'm sure Marshall is a sweet fellow, but his movies have become clueless, klutzy abominations, with Valentine's Day an affront to the art of love, somehow roping in an all-star cast to help sell the pure ick.

Bill Goodykoontz

(2012-03-27 22:46:05)

Marshall, working from a script by Katherine Fugate, probably would have done better to pare some of the elements to concentrate more fully on... something. His golf game, maybe.

Iknowthatnow

(2012-03-27 09:25:03)

Pleasantly surprised

I was the token husband who took this in on opening night with my wife.I liked most of the actors in the film, which certainly helps, butfound the stories engaging. As the movie progressed, I became a bitannoyed at the parallels with Love Actually. I hadn't seen or heard thecomparisons, or even any reviews prior to seeing the movie, other thannoting a 2 star review in the Trib. I love Love Actually, and wasnoting enough similarities which is why I came to this site tonightafter seeing the movie to see if the writer/producer or anyone of notewas the same.Spoiler....The intertwined stories, holiday romantic comedy, little boy with oneparent, in love (ending up being an ethnic enchantment in both cases),the girl with the constant ringing phone which perpetually interruptsher love life, the infidelities & heartbreak, airport scenes, etc. Itcertainly seems to pay homage to LA. In the end I found itentertaining, and a great movie to see with your significant other forValentine's or whenever for that matter.

Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)

(2012-03-19 19:17:40)

It's clunky, aimless and not especially funny.

Colin Covert

(2012-03-19 03:31:05)

The film seems like a package deal arranged by a talent agency that found half its stars were idle for a day or two over a three-week period.

lyndacatherine

(2012-03-19 08:46:58)

Romantic, fun, good acting - what else do you need?!

I think a lot of the criticisms of this film are unduly harsh.Obviously, if you don't enjoy the kind of film with several differentplot-lines running through then this might not be the film for you.Similarly, if you are a hard-hearted cynic who cringes at the firstsign of romance and happy endings, then look elsewhere. But if, likeme, you enjoy a bit of light-hearted, heart-warming romance with asprinkling of comic moments thrown in, then this is a great film. Thefact that it truly is a star-studded cast should not be held againstit. All of the performances were strong, with the majority of leadroles being played to perfection. Personally, I liked following thedifferent stories being played out, and seeing the connections betweenthem, and for my money this was done better than in Love Actually, inwhich there were only two stories I found appealing. Obviously therewas less time given for characterisation, which is where the qualityacting was an essential ingredient. As others have mentioned, therewere a couple of surprise twists, which, given the format of the filmand the short amount of time given to each story, I think was somethingof a triumph. Take it for what it is - a star-studded romance withmultiple story-lines - and settle back for an enjoyable andentertaining film.

(2012-03-18 20:52:34)

Love it!

This review is from: Valentine's Day (DVD) It's ALL my favorite actors in one movie, what more could you ask for? The movie has the same concept as 'he's just NOT that into you'. Another good movie. Well worth it. After I saw this in the theater, I knew I was going to buy it. So I did

(2012-03-16 22:29:34)

must warn...

It COULD have been another cute (yet predictable) romantic comedy... but, the makers of the film just had to throw in a homosexual couple... uncalled for and had nothing to do with anything.. ruined it for me!!!!

dewrules1001

(2012-03-15 23:15:02)

This movie was hilarious!

Let me just say this, Taylor Swift is an amazing actor in the movie.This movie is all around a good fun film for a whole family to enjoy.One of the funniest things about the movie is when Taylor Swift iscarrying around a giant white bear that says I LOVE YOU. It's so funnyI could not stop laughing. Also if you have seen the movie, "I am gay,so let me play!" Go see this movie if you haven't. Trust me, it's worththe ticket price. Go and see the movie now. It's playing everywhere.George Lopez wasn't that funny in this movie though. The rest of thecast was good especially Taylor Swift. Taylor Lautner was kind of gay,that's all I have to say.

(2012-03-09 02:04:16)

Not even one gay kiss in 2010...?

Lots of reviews on this ridiculous disaster, so I won't bore you any more. I just wanted to say that I found SCANDALOUS and pretty PATHETHIC that in the year 2010 Mr. "Pretty" director Garry Marshall wasn't brave enough to put not even one single gay kiss throughout 125 minutes. Only flower caresses. Afraid that your precious straight audiences could say "..ewww" Well, as a gay man that's precisely what I was saying the entire film, but not for the numerous kisses and making out sequences of the straight people (I'm not so bad to feel awkward or ofended on any kind of love.) What offend me it's the script and the ridiculous plots all around. Thank God you put inside (...too briefely) Eric Dane and Taylor Lautner. The rest go to the garbage.

ben-voegele

(2012-03-08 11:11:08)

Someone please help me understand....

...Why everyone hates this movie so much! I'll never understand peoplethat go into Rom-Com's with any kind of expectations at all. Prettymuch every Rom-Com ever written follows the exact same formula, soexpecting Valentine's Day to be some kind of ground-breakingworld-changer just shows your own ignorance regarding film, not thewriters or actors.This movie is pure fluff, the kind of film you go to see to shut yourmind off for a couple of hours. It's not deep or layered or full of anykind of overtones - and it never pretends that it is.As someone who has no real belief in love or any interest in arelationship (why buy the cow when the milk is always free in LA?), Iwas still able to suspend my cynicism long enough to enjoy the film.It's no Love Actually, I know, but again, this movie NEVER TRIES TO BE.It is unabashedly 2 hours of cutesy, formulaic puff - and for what it'strying to be - it succeeds very well.I never found myself bored or questioning the logic of the charactersmotives, and this is all knowing exactly what was around every corner.THAT'S OKAY, PEOPLE. It's okay for a movie to be predictable andformulaic, as it's a Rom-Com and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM ispredictable and formulaic! I have seen hundreds, probably thousands offilms, and I can think of about 50 off the top of my head that were FARworse than this one.Valentine's Day is exactly what you expect it to be, and if that's notfor you, that's perfectly fine. But as far as Rom-Com's go, this one ispretty solid overall in its delivery.I'd honestly give it a 5 overall (6 or 7 being highest I could everrate a Rom-Com), but I'm giving it an 8 to off-set some of theincredibly unnecessary harsh criticism it's receiving.If you rated this film a 1, then I can't fathom how you could rateeither of the Transformers any higher.This movie is what it is. Stop expecting more than that.

MBunge

(2012-03-06 06:32:53)

C'mon! It's not THAT bad!

Valentine's Day focuses on one day (guess which one) in theintersecting love lives of a enormous cast of characters. As a film,it's obvious, manipulative and way too long for this sort ofconfection. It's also quite pleasant, elicits significantly more laughsthan groans and offers up a couple of genuinely touching moments. Ifyou hate sappy romantic comedies, you'll hate this movie with the whitehot intensity of a thousand suns. If you lack that prejudice, you'llhave a good time watching this.Here's the roll call: Reed (Ashton Kutcher) is a florist who starts offValentine's Day proposing to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba).Reed's best friend Julia (Jennifer Garner) starts off her day with hersupposedly divorced boyfriend Harrison (Patrick Dempsey) telling her hehas to spend the day in San Francisco, when he's really just headinghome to his wife and family. Julia is an elementary school teacher andone of her young students, Edison (Bryce Robinson), pays Reed todeliver some flowers to the school so Edison can give them to hisvalentine. Julia has another friend, Holden (Jessica Biel), who'sunhappily single and hosting an "I hate Valentine's Day party".Meanwhile, Edison's babysitter Grace (Emma Roberts) is planning to loseher virginity to her boyfriend; TV sports reporter Kelvin (Jaime Foxx)has been ordered to do a series of puff pieces on the holiday; mailroomclerk Jason (Topher Grace) finally hooks up with the very pretty Liz(Anne Hathaway) without knowing she's a phone sex operator; teenlovebirds Willy and Felicia (Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift) show offtheir naГѓВЇve affection; Edison's grandparents (Hector Elizondo andShirley MacLaine) confront an old secret; and two strangers (JuliaRoberts and Bradley Cooper) strike up a conversation on a plane.This legion of the loved and lovelorn experience hope and heartbreak,disappointment and elation. Some end up together, some end up apart andsome are left lonely. Anne Hathaway is quite sexy, Taylor Swift ischarmingly ditzy, Ashton Kutcher demonstrates that he did his best workon Punk'd while writer Katherine Fugate and director Garry Marshallmanage to pull off a couple of very lovely twists that tie upeverything in a nice bow.Apparently, most critics are pretty negative about Valentine's Day andI don't understand it. Yes, it's a sappy and fairly clichГѓВ©d romanticcomedy, but it isn't dumb or poorly acted or insultingly sexist orgratingly unbelievable. It may be shallow and formulaic but it's alsowell intentioned and funny more often than not. It offers up sentimentand not sarcasm while its happy endings manage to avoid going over theline into shmaltz. This is an above average example of the romcom genrethat probably should have had at least 20 minutes and a few charactersedited out of it. None of that merits any harsh criticism.This is the sort of film where on several different occasions,something funny will happen and director Marshall will cut away to areaction shot by a dog. If that sort of thing irritates you, you won'tlike Valentine's Day. Everybody else will find it to be cute, fun andperfectly acceptable entertainment.

WHYeat

(2012-03-05 17:35:19)

Bro-Approved

Let's get naked. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself.Valentine's Day has an all star cast and consists of a dozen parallelstories. A little less than half way into the movie, the parallelstories begin to cross and tangle themselves into a web of bothserendipity and mishap. These interrelated stories provide overallcoherency like Traffic or Crash. But unlike those two movies, the valueadded is minimal. The side stories do help a to change things up so asto keep your interest. It also allows the movie to be a dozen chickflicks in one. You won't have to watch another for a year! (Yea right…)It's like taking a multi-vitamin instead of just one.The movie features the entire spectrum of relationships and all thecrap Valentine's Day subjects them to. You have enduring love, newlove, puppy love, no love, and my favorite – ignorant teenage love.There are a few hilarious scenes, but with the right context if youwatched just those few clips you'd probably get about the same amountof entertainment value out of it.Men: If your lady asks you to watch this on Valentine's Day, you don'thave much of a choice. However, this chick flick is not painful towatch at all and it has its moments. Show her you love her. Or at leastpretend. Bro-Approved.Follow my reviews on Ratedchick.com

blairra

(2012-03-02 00:18:09)

what a bad movie

bad story or shall i say no story, made me cringe and feel sick to mystomach. If you would like to cause physical and emotional pain tosomeone make them watch this movie. i don't know if they could makethis movie worse if they tried, i feel so sorry for all those poor guyswho had to sit through this in the theater, i'm sure this movie alonecaused breakups by the boyfriend wanting to leave this movie in thetheater and the girlfriends not allowing it. instead of bringing joyand feel good movie it caused pain and hardship. i did find taylorswift funny but that is the only good thing i have to say. Never watchthis movie ever!!!!!!

(2012-03-01 10:05:23)

Great cast & wonderful ending!

This review is from: Valentine's Day (DVD) I was so happy to see so many famous actors and loved how the story intertwined them together. Great ending to how all came together. Garry Marshall will be missed.

Ken Hanke

(2012-02-21 20:55:24)

A poorly conceived American processed-cheese version of Love Actually, insisting we believe Ashton Kutcher is an acceptable replacement for Hugh Grant.

Rocbrah

(2012-02-21 06:23:28)

Much Better Than Expected

First of all, i'm a guy. I'm into movies of all kinds, so I didn't haveto get dragged to see a romantic comedy by my girlfriend. I was in twominds about this movie before we watched it, having so many big nameactors all in one movie I thought might detract from the storysomewhat, but I thought it might work if they do it right. Well, theydid. This movie had me feeling for, well, MOST of the main characters.Ashton Kutcher was very good in this movie, he also had one of thebigger roles and he pulled it off really well. The others were mostlygood too, Taylor Swift's character was kind of annoying, but I thinkshe was supposed to be. The story had me intrigued from beginning toend, seeing how all the different characters were connected and thechemistry between each couple was very believable also. If you watchthis with your partner, it will make you feel closer. If you watch thiswithout your partner, it will make you miss them. If you watch thiswhile single, it will give you hope that there's someone out there foryou. I'd recommend this to anyone who's looking for a good valentinesday romance or even just a good movie. 8/10