"Valentine's Day" Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Lauren Bull

The film “Valentine’s Day” follows multiple Los Angeles dwellers experiencing the highs and lows of a holiday dedicated to the celebration of love or the cursing of it. However, the trailer for “Valentine’s Day” is the story of 20 or so very famous (and in some cases, incredibly talented) actors who all agreed to be in the same film. About halfway through the trailer, Ashton Kutcher’s narration ends and we get a look at face after beautiful face, like the ultimate set of Hollywood flashcards, as if to tell us, “Forget everything else you’ve seen or heard so far. Look how many people agreed to be in this film and said, 'Yes!'”

Some of those who did include Kathy Bates, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel and Anne Hathaway, all trying to sandwich their way into one of the most hyped days of the year. If a film with intertwining plotlines about love revolving around a holiday sounds familiar, it is. If “Valentine’s Day” and “Love Actually” had a child, it probably would be inbred. But that’s not to say that it still can’t be fun to watch.

Garry Marshall is the director, and it almost feels as if “Pretty Woman,” “Runaway Bride” and “The Princess Diaries” all were made in preparation for this explosion of romance and disappointment, where a series of people either leave behind their hooker days, finally settle down, or discover how beautiful they really are--and all in one day, no less. Marshall’s old pal Julia Roberts also stars, and even though Shirley MacLaine is in this, Roberts somehow feels like the matriarch.  With just one head turn and a grin, it seems as though she's saying, “We’ve all come a long way since 'Mystic Pizza'.”

One frustrating thing that sometimes happens in comedy trailers is that when the music suddenly pauses and the “hilarious” lines are delivered, they sound forced and cheap. That happens a few times here, but there also are moments that are fairly humorous, particularly Biel sitting alone at an “I Hate Valentine’s Day” party. I also laughed at the shot of the mom brigade running up the hill with their oversized strollers.

Inevitably, some storylines in the movie will outshine others, some will get lost in the shuffle and all will overlap in ways that only make sense during two hours in a darkened theater. But Taylor Swift and Hector Elizondo? C’mon. The film could end up really being about Halloween and it wouldn’t matter.

View the trailer for "Valentine's Day" below.  Thoughts?