Visitors Review

Tim Robey (2012-05-26 18:38)

The many mysteries of the human heart aren't solved by Garry Marshall's Love Actually-style ensemble romcom. It's more like an all-star perfect teeth and hair convention you could cheerfully firebomb.

(2012-05-26 03:38)

Excellent movie for the genre

This movie was excellent - for what it was. It's certainly no masterpiece, but I assume (and hope) no one was expecting that from it. I rate it so highly because it was not what I typically expect from a romantic comedy (which I rarely watch as a rule). I thought the acting was good, the stories were amusing, and the ending was in some cases quite surprising (SPOILERS: I loved the addition of the gay couple, as well as the age range/relationship range of the couples, and in particular the mother/child relationship - I thought it was wonderful that a Valentine's Day movie covered the gamut of love!) Yes some of it was cliched, but it's a romantic comedy - how far off of the beaten path can you really go with that? While Taylor Swift's character and her boyfriend were obnoxious, that was kind of the entire point...and I LOVED the line about him being uncomfortable taking his shirt off in public. I honestly was pretty happy with all of the cast; again, this was not meant to be anyone's best movie, but for what it was I felt it was excellent.To sum up, if you're looking for a light-hearted romantic comedy you will be happy and probably even pleasantly surprised. I definitely recommend. If you're looking for a serious movie filled with A+ acting and plot, look elsewhere. With this one it your reaction all depends what you are looking for.

Ross Anthony (2012-05-23 16:33)

It's a warm, fuzzy, fluffy, entertaining film.

WegmansSubs (2012-05-22 22:43)

Love Actually has been surpassed- just kidding this movie is garbage

If you ever wondered what would happen if someone forced a 5th graderto rewrite the script of Love Actually on a roll of wet paper towelwith a crayon, and then forced that same child, to act in the moviewithout telling him how, then you should go see Valentine's Day. If youdid not wonder what would happen in the scenario above, that's great,don't see this movie. If for some reason you did, read on so that youcan satisfy your curiosity without wasting $22 like I did. On a sidenote, the kid in the movie should not be blamed for acting poorly; hewas just trying to keep up with the rest of the cast.In order to jam all of the "stars" into this movie somehow, the kid whowrote it had to have 10 plot lines going on at once. Unfortunately,half way through the movie I realized that only 1 story line wasremotely entertaining, and included actors that I wasn't completelyannoyed by. By the end of the movie I realized that that one plot linewas garbage as well, it just took longer than the others to get there.It's impossible not to compare this movie to Love Actually, but youreally have to feel bad for all of the people who were involved withLove actually who are still alive and have to see the comparisons beingdrawn. It would be the same as if when "Ninja Assassin" came out,reviewers all commented on how similar it was to Saving Private Ryan.There is nothing to like about this movie. It contains every imaginablecliché that has ever been put into a movie, these have been listedbelow for your convenience: Stunning millionaire Jessica Biel can'tfind a date on Valentine's Day her whole life (sad face); Old peoplemaking out after they make up about something; Guy gets dumped by hotgirl but finds he always loved his best friend Best; friend fromprevious line realizes she loves said guy when 9 year old boy asks herif she has ever fallen in love with her best friend; Small town guy hasto overcome big city girl's "crazy" lifestyle to make 2 weekrelationship work; Kid (assumed writer of the screenplay) runs awayfrom home to deliver flowers to the love of his life on a bike; Manruns through airport barefoot to chase a girl (of course)You have been warned.

Wesley Lovell (2012-05-20 20:05)

A melange of stories, some that work, some that don't. Entertaining for what it is, but for little more.

Rocbrah (2012-05-20 12:08)

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

John Anderson (2012-05-16 23:10)

Valentine's Day deploys every rom-com cliché, minus the com-there's isn't a laugh in the movie, unless you count a fleeting sequence featuring comedian Larry Miller, who's also probably the least prominent member of the cast.

Egg24 (2012-05-16 11:19)

Disappointing, with one saving grace.

I was thrilled to finally see a movie in which a homosexualrelationship played side-by-side with heterosexual relationships. Infact, I thought it was the most well-written and acted relationship inthe movie. Bradley Cooper's performance, especially in his final scene,was genuine and moving. However, aside from this and Julia Roberts'performance, I was terribly disappointed with this movie. It clearlywanted to be "Love Actually" but didn't come close to making it. TaylorSwift's performance was one of the worst I have ever seen. Most of thestory lines were trite and contrived. I am a fan of many of the actorsin this movie, and I did not enjoy most of the performances.

MBunge (2012-05-15 22:02)

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 naïve 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 clichéd 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.

IMDB_Vits (2012-05-15 08:45)

The true meaning of VALENTINE'S DAY is broken hearts and money you spend when it's unnecessary(***/*****).

Romantic Comedy is one of the weakest genres because it's always thesame thing.Recently we've seen good ones because they have someredeeming quality,something that makes them stand on their own.Makingone that shows several stories isn't the solution.It has worked withmovies like LOVE,ACTUALLY because it says new things about it'ssubjects,not the several stories fact itself.So what is the problem with this movie?It takes not every plot usedsince the genre started,but the most common plots,and stuff themtogether.They're focusing on the wrong aspect,because it's safer tospend money on a movie with a new premise and the same formula,than tospend it on a recap of the last...what?90 years?With so many stories it's easy to rank them from better to worse:1)The main stories are the ones with EDISON,and ALEX & GRACE,and MORLEY& REED & JULIA & HARRISON.Not because they have more screen time,butbecause they add charm,sweetness and a little humour to stories we'vealready seen before,making them interesting(not necessarily good).2)The one with LIZ & JASON had what the ones from above had plus it wasfunnier.It would've been the best story if hadn't felt written for asitcom episode.3)ALPHONSO and PAULA are filler characters.They help advance theplot,but that's it.The same can be said about SEAN who only depends onthe twist ending of his story.4)EDGAR & ESTELLE,and KARA & KELVIN have pointless subplots,becausethey're practically 100% how we've seen them before.The same can besaid about HOLDEN and CPT. HAZELTINE who,once again,only depend on thetwist ending to their stories.5)SUSAN is sort of a mix:a pointless character.That can be said of anyextra in the movie,but when it's played by an a-list actor who's billedas part of the main cast,you don't expect her to be an actual extra.6)And if you combine all,we get filler pointless characters with apointless subplot.That would be FELICIA & WILLY.I don't think I need toexplain why.I've defended Kutcher for years because I really think he hastalent,but in this he didn't seem to know what he was doing.And I feltMacLaine picked up the leftovers from her performances in TERMS OFENDEARMENT and THE EVENING STAR.The only decent performances came fromElizondo and Hathaway.Also,I was glad Lopez kept his self-satire jokesagainst latinos to the minimum.Grades:C- in the U.S. and 4,5 in Chile.

Joe Williams (2012-05-15 12:30)

What might have seemed like a lively idea -- an all-star roundelay about love in Los Angeles -- is as fossilized as the wooly mammoths in the La Brea Tar Pits.

Joaquin (2012-05-15 07:06)

Much better than critics said...

Let me get to the point, this is an enjoyable feel good movie. The performances by the ensemble cast are awesome when you consider the script they had to work with. Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Emma Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, George Lopez, and Bradley Cooper are outstanding! Most of the rest of the cast members are pretty good too. And Taylor Swift is much better than critics said. Valentine's Day is a movie about how the day which is suppose to be a celebration of the most romantic moments of our life, impacts different people. According to the script, it seems to bring out the best and the worst in a lot of us. For the most part, we are treated to numerous subplots that eventually come together to provide us with somewhat of a feel good happy ending.I give it two thumbs up because it's very believable and I enjoyed it.

(2012-05-14 19:05)

I've watched it so many times!

It is really weird that people can have such different opinions about a movie. Love the cast, love the plot, love the music. One of my favourites!

Harvey S. Karten (2012-05-14 06:47)

Cliche piles upon cliche in this tepid comedy.

(2012-05-11 04:51)

Indifference, Actually

"Valentine's Day", the new film from director Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman") owes much of it's inspiration to the far superior "Love, Actually", written and directed by Richard Curtis. Both films, set around emotionally charged holidays, depict the loves won and lost by a series of couples. In "Love, Actually", the film features an amazing who's who of British actors, most of whom can carry their own films, delivering funny, insightful, romantic and dramatic portrayals of people who are in love and most are confused by it. Most of the characters in "Love, Actually" could be the subject of their own films. "Valentine's Day" takes the same formula (even throwing in a pivotal scene at LAX to match the first film's scenes at Heathrow) but the acting caliber isn't as good. Neither is the writing and directing for that matter. With a star-studded roster of talent playing the various characters, we are still left with a hollow, empty feeling. None of the In a film with so many recognizable names, it is difficult to say one or two of these people are the stars, but Reed Bennet played by Ashton Kutcher interacts with a fair number of the other actors, making him one of the more central characters. Reed owns a high-end flower shop and delivers pricey bouquets with his employee (George Lopez) when he isn't helping with the customers flowing into his shop. But Reed isn't simply a defacto Cupid; he is in love and proposes to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) as soon as she wakes up on Valentine's Day. Later, Alex, a young boy arrives and wants flowers delivered to his teacher (Jennifer Garner) who just happens to be Reed's best friend. A little later, a doctor (Patrick Dempsey) arrives and wants to have flowers delivered to both his girlfriend (Garner) and his wife. Reed becomes worried and decides he has to tell Garner about her boyfriend's indiscretions. Jessica Biel plays a PR Agent, whose client, a football quarterback (Eric Dane), now a free agent, is trying to create some buzz and keep his career afloat. They turn to his agent, Paula (Queen Latifah) for help. She is working with a new temp secretary (Anne Hathaway) who makes the majority of her living doing phone sex in a variety of different voices. She has recently started dating a guy who works in the mailroom (Topher Grace). Things are going well, but she wants to keep her secondary job a secret. Meanwhile, Julia Roberts has fallen asleep on a plane, traveling home to Los Angeles, her head lying against the stranger, Bradley Cooper, in the seat next to her. When she wakes up, they begin to talk and flirt a little, and he learns she is traveling fourteen hours to spend one day with her loved one before traveling fourteen hours back to her military post. And Alex's grandparents (Hector Elizando and Shirley MacLaine) aren't sure how to provide his teenaged babysitter with the advice she needs, she is planning on having sex for the first time with her boyfriend, but things go very wrong. As the two teenagers deal with the news of their impending intercourse traveling among their circle of friends, their two closest friends, played by real-life couple Taylor Lautner ("Twilight") and Taylor Swift, also give them their two cents worth.I will give the film some credit; as you sit and watch the film, you are never bored. The narrative moves back and forth between the various couplings so fast it would be impossible to be bored. But are these stories particularly well-written or even all that engaging? Not really. Unfortunately, most quickly devolve into bits of pure slapstick or feature over-the-top performances, making them little more believable than an episode of "Two and a Half Men".Certain characters work better than others and these characters make their stories more successful. Ashton Kutcher is pretty good as Reed. He has the most screen time and he doesn't seem to waste a minute. He proposes to his girlfriend with a unique proposal, runs off to work and interacts with his co-worker, played by George Lopez. At work, he is, naturally, very busy as he is a florist trying to maintain control of his shop on Valentine's Day. Later, he has to figure out how to deal with the news he learns about his best friend's (Jennifer Garner) relationship and tries to make good on his promise to the 10 year old who wanders into his shop and wants to have some roses delivered to his teacher (also Garner). Throughout this chaotic day, Kutcher maintains a relatively low key performance, given the nature of his character and what we usually get from Kutcher.Jennifer Garner is also good as the young teacher who feels she has finally found true love. Later, when she learns the truth, we feel her pain. Given how quickly these moments happen, it is a testament to the actress' skill that we are able to follow along with her.I also liked the budding relationship between Topher Grace and Anne Hathaway. We pick up their relationship the morning after the first time they sleep together. They seem to be a normal, young, healthy couple. Throughout the day, we learn they both work at the same agency, in entry level positions and we learn a 'funny' secret about Hathaway's character. Frankly, her secondary job isn't all that funny or interesting and it seems included to shock us into laughs when we hear her say scandalous things or use a funny accent to play a character for one of her clients. When Topher learns it is Valentine's Day, he decides to invite her on a real date at a restaurant. Their date provides some genuine comedy that would make this story become the most memorable. But the phone sex thing interferes again and returns as the main focal point of this story, making it seem like little more than a situation comedy.In fact, this is the overriding problem with "Valentine's Day". Every time the filmmakers begin to approach anything genuinely funny or touching, the story and situation take a turn for the worse, ruining anything we have already seen.Jessica Biel's character hates the very thought of Valentine's Day and hosts an I Hate Valentine's Day party for her friends. Naturally, because she is so bitter, she will find love, in this case in the form of Jamie Foxx's character, a struggling Sports reporter assigned by his boss (Kathy Bates) to do a puff piece on Valentine's Day. Her party is set at an Indian restaurant where a wedding is also being held. Naturally, as Biel's party gets a little more outrageous, Marshall begins to cut to reactions of the shocked Indian guests. Har, har!Patrick Dempsey's doctor initially appears charming when he gives his girlfriend, Garner, a cute little trinket for Valentine's Day. But his character quickly reveals his true self and has nowhere to go from there. Why does he keep playing these thankless, one-note characters?So why does "Love, Actually" work so much better? We spend longer periods with each of the couples before moving on. Each couple has a specific purpose to the story and, in some cases, a specific aspect of love to portray. Oh, let's face it. The main reason "Actually" works so much better is that the actors are so much better. Heads and shoulder above their American counterparts. Skyscrapers above their counterparts.Marshall isn't intent to just keep the story moving, flashing from one couple to the next and back again. He also has to make sure we run the entire gamut of emotions throughout the day. Therefore, some moments are so saccharin and sweet, others are meant to be slapstick, others just plain sweet. Some cute and others sexy. But because the actors are a mixed bag, they can't keep up with this changing pace and everything begins to resemble a bouquet of flowers that has been sitting in a vase for too long.

gradyharp (2012-05-10 21:57)

A Trip to the Hollywood Candy Store: All Parade and No Circus

Although some writers can get away with this patched together pastichesof quick movie star turns, the combined committee writing of KatherineFugate, Abby Korn, and Mark Silverstein can't, and even under thepolicing of good old reliable Garry Marshall this movie is merely ashowcase of some top movie star names to have a bit of fun before theydash off to a serious film. If that doesn't bother the viewer then thismovie will serve up a holiday treat.''More than a dozen Angelenos navigate Valentine's Day from earlymorning until midnight. Three couples awake together, but eachrelationship will sputter; are any worth saving? A grade-school boywants flowers for his first true love; two high school seniors planfirst-time sex at noon; a TV sports reporter gets the assignment tofind romance in LA; a star quarterback contemplates his future; twostrangers meet on a plane; grandparents, together for years, face acrisis; and, an "I Hate Valentine's Day" dinner beckons the lonely andthe lied to. Can Cupid finish his work by midnight?' That's the way thePR runs. Not sufficient interest to merit watching? The add the likesof Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Kara Monahan, BradleyCooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx,Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, QueenLatifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts,and Julia Roberts - among many other more minor actors and voila! Ataste of what everyone is looking like these days! It is bound todelight as many people as it is destined to bore others. Depends onyour mood... Grady Harp

Stella Papamichael (2012-05-10 13:34)

Marshall directs like a giddy Cupid, spreading the joy thinly among the multitudes. Still, if we learn anything from this Valentine's movie, it's that even a bit of what you fancy does you good.

Jon (2012-05-10 00:13)

Don't know what all these bad reviews are about...

My girlfriend dragged me to this movie yesterday, but I came outpleasantly surprised. No, Valentine's Day is not as good as LoveActually, which seems to be the main reason everyone is bashing it, butit still has a lot to offer. Of course, there are awkward and cheesymoments; it's a romantic comedy. But the stories and connectionsbetween the characters were brilliant. While some of the stories wereoverly predictable, I found myself surprised more often than boredduring this movie. Some weak points of VDay: 1. The acting- Yes, I know it's an all-starcast, but some of the acting (especially between the high schoolers)was downright bad. 2. Predictability- In about half of the stories,you'll know what's going to happen about 15 minutes into the movie.Some strong points of VDay: 1. It was FUNNY!!! I was laughing out loudconstantly during this movie. 2. The character connections werewell-done and kept me interested throughout the entire film. 3. Theending- Of course I won't ruin anything here, but the end of this moviewas amazing. While Love Actually's ending is over-the-top, VDay got itright.Overall, this is a very good romantic comedy that definitely deservesbetter than these 1-star reviews I've been reading. My advice is to notcompare every single part of it to Love Actually, although the two arevery similar. Enjoy it for what it is, not for how it compares toanother movie.

Joseph Proimakis (2012-05-08 01:17)

click to read full review

(2012-05-07 10:56)

More enjoyable than I expected

When my roomie rented this film, I was initially hesitant to watch. I thought it would be nothing but a chick flick, and it does start out as one. There's no one main couple, and no real main characters (unless you count the characters played by Ashton Kutcher and Jennifer Garner) Overall the film was enjoyable, with fun roles played by Anne Hathaway and Queen Latifah. There's a lot of other good actors in this (Topher Grace, Jessica Alba, Shirley MacLaine, and a few others I cannot name)I was disappointed in one thing, though. The old couple's situation... I was angry that the matter of adultery was so easily resolved at the end. Yes, you should forgive people you love if they make a mistake, but you shouldn't forgive someone JUST because you love them (what if someone you love raped you, or did something else really horrible?) The grandfather put it succinctly when he first learned of his wife's affair after she said 'i wanted to tell you the truth'. He said 'The truth makes everything else feel like a lie' and that is a very, VERY good way of putting adultery. It is terrible and it hurts people, so I was disappointed that this couple reunited at the end, as if saying that adultery was okay and if someone you love cheats on you, you should forgive them just because you love them! How BS is that? That makes adultery seem not like a big deal. Thank goodness the character played by Jennifer Garner dealt with her lover's infidelity by humiliating him instead of forgiving him, otherwise this movie would have lost its meaning.I liked that the character done by Latifah 'got into' her employee's adult phone entertainment thing instead of just firing her. It was hilarious when she took on her 'African Queen' persona. I laughed out loud at that. Overall an entertaining movie although it definitely could have handled the matter of adultery better. 3.5 stars.