I discovered this movie by accident because at the time the guesthouse that I owned it was our thing to feature movies at night. This was 10 years ago before smartphones and it was actually a big part of the backpacker culture back then. It was of questionable legality (in that it almost certainly was not legal for me to play them) but things work a little differently in Asia - whatever. Anyway, I played the film because of its name alone, and all throughout the movie it just seemed like a "Love Actually' rip off.

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This is not to suggest that the movie is bad. It isn't. However I am very critical of film makers copying something else and attempting to present it as a new product. I suppose I should just shut up because the way in which this film (and Love Actually) tell their story is actually a lot of fun in the way that it is non-linear and all the characters have their own stories going on yet many of the stories overlap one another.

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One of the stories is how Stan Harris (DeNiro) is in the final stages of cancer and his nurse Aimee (Hale Berry) is comforting him as he is prepared to die but wants to watch the ball drop one last time. It's kind of touching but mostly the emotion is forced because of the music and sound, rather than being terribly believable or even endearing. I don't know if that makes sense.

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The problem with this story as opposed to Love Actually, is that most of the intermingled stories that are going on are quite boring. There's no real compelling story here and it becomes quite obvious that they are simply taking advantage of the holiday spirit. That's not to say that such a thing is off limits because this very practice has been done for nearly every superstar at one point or another (Jingle all the Way with Arnold springs to mind.)

The cast is absolutely loaded with big names and I suppose at times, it is reasonably entertaining. However, the stories themselves are just a bit lame for the most part and I hope that doesn't make me seem completely devoid of normal human sentiment. I also don't like that the stories have obvious outcomes and are borderline cliche.

The film was almost universally panned by critics and fans alike but that didn't stop the film from making nearly $100 million. I actually feel New Year's Eve is a bit better than the prevailing opinion, but not by much. I have to admit that this movie is pretty fun if you are going to turn it into a drinking game and drink every time something cringe-worthy happens - which is frequently. Better get a case.

4 / 10