New in Town

Every now and then, deep thoughts make it into the most half-hearted, formulaic ventures. The initial conflict between the two lovers of New In Town, Renée Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr., culminates in a screaming match over the founders of the USA: were they captains of industry or robber barons? Eventually, complex arguments about nation building are set aside for the real work of bringing together the romantic leads---New in Town is aggressively lame and cheesy when executing this task, but the film isn’t particularly stupid, either. Zellweger’s corporate barracuda character evolves into someone with as much community spirit as business acumen. She doesn’t sacrifice ambition to get her man, and the romantic finale is imbued with a deeper notion of finding a place and value for everyone in a community.New in Town gets a pass for having more substance than meets the eye.