The hubby, my brother who is visiting (aka as the third wheel) and I went to watch Valentine's day on Valentine's Day. The boys were a bit hesitant (and I do not blame them for the movie had the worst critic reviews ever - one critic gave the movie 0 stars) but I insisted so we went anyway. I wanted to watch the movie because it basically reads like a Who's Who of Hollywood with Kathy Bates, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, the man of the hour Bradley Cooper, the two Taylors (Swift and Lautner), Jessica Alba, the immensely talented Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Emma Roberts, Jamie Fox and Gary Marshall staple Hector Elizondo.
The movie is an ensemble romantic comedy with snippets from the lives of various Los Angelinos and what happens to them on that particular Valentine's Day. Without giving too much away, of the various storylines, I enjoyed the ones with Anne Hathaway & Topher Grace, Julia Roberts, and Emma Roberts. Absolutely did not like the 2 Taylors and their plot-line - but oh well, they cannot all be winners. All in all I had a decent experience. The movie kind of reminded me of Love Actually but the stories in Love Actually were a bit more detailed with the characters more fully etched out because they did have the luxury of time. While there is not that much detail paid to the fleshing out of some of the characters, Gary Marshall did a good job. Of all his movies, Pretty Woman still remains my personal favourite but this is not bad by any means. It's a tad too long but with this cast of characters I guess everyone needed some screen time.
Anne Hathaway is coming into her own as an actress. Every time I watch a movie of hers, I am more enthralled with her acting skills (I wasn't always a fan but I loved her in The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada, Rachel Getting Married and Passengers). Jessica Alba is quite the opposite - every time I watch her in a movie, I am left completely unimpressed (the male of our species will violently disagree as has been my experience whenever we have discussed JA). I liked the twist Bradley Cooper's story had. Ashton Kutcher did a decent job, as did Jennifer Garner and Emma Roberts. Julia Roberts did not have much to do. Everyone else in the movie did a pretty good job.
So my recommendation is to watch the movie if you want a light breezy uncomplicated movie (it's by no means a theater must watch - you can wait for the DVD too).
