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Released in the UK: December 8th

Director: Garry Marshall

Writer: Katherine Fugate

Genre: Romantic Comedy

New Years Eve is the much anticipated follow up to the film ‘Valentine’s Day’ which was released in 2010. Both films follow the ‘6 degrees of separation’ theory that believes everyone within 6 feet of each other is a friend of a friend.

The Film stars some very high profile actors such as Robert De Niro and Ashton Kutcher as well rising stars such as Disney’s Jake T. Austin. New Years Eve also stars Lea Michele, Zac Efron and Katherine Heigl.

New Years Eve follows a group of individuals as they prepare to welcome the New Year at Times Square, New York. Each character has some form of relationship with each other which brings them together to watch the ‘Ball Drop’ as the clock strikes midnight.

Zac Efron plays a currier who will do anything to have an amazing New Year, whereas is flat mate played by Ashton Kutcher is doing everything in his power to avoid the celebration. Efron plays his typical character that uses his looks and charm to get him exactly what he wants. Ashton Kutcher’s character Randy is an artist who spends his day in his pyjamas and mopes around the flat. It is unusual to see Kutcher play a character that isn’t overly confident and has a sexual innuendo in every line. It is nice to see him play a character with flaws.

Sarah Jessica Parker plays a mother struggling with a rebellious teenager who is insistent on going to Times Square without a chaperone. Her character brings the film down to earth with realistic portrayal of a single mother dealing with a divorce as well as bringing up a daughter alone.

Katherine Heigl plays a Chef called Laura who is catering for a high profile New Years Eve party. Her character has had a previous relationship with Jensen who is the party’s special guest. It is clear from the beginning that the relationship ended badly.  Jensen is played by Jon Bon Jovi which gives the film a star studded twist.

Robert De Niro brings raw emotion to this romantic Comedy. He plays a dying man who has no family or friends to come be with him as he fulfils his dying wish of watching the ‘Ball Drop’ at midnight.

This film was expected to bring in large crowds and receive excellent reviews. This unfortunately didn’t happen as it only brought in $13,019,180 on the opening week in the US.

There is some confusion with a few characters that also starred in ‘Valentine’s Day’. Although the characters played by Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Biel have different names in each film it is hard to separate the characters. The director has made a bold decision to cast the same actors in both films as this can easily back fire and cause serious confusion. For me personally this film wouldn’t be the same without Ashton Kutcher but all I wanted to do was go home and search ‘Valentines Day’ on IMDb and compare character names. This took my full attention away from the film.

I personally believe this film deserves much more credit than it was given by many other critics. Throughout this film I was kept guessing to who was connected to who and who would actually make it to Times Square. The scenes with Ashton Kutcher and Lea Michele warmed your heart as you saw a couple coming together romantically because they took the time talk to each other. Robert De Niro’s character Stan Harris broke my heart, as a viewer you see what the nurses say about him so the dramatic irony makes you feel for his character even more.

The film has a share of romance, joy and heartache and it is fair to say it’s an emotional rollercoaster, but by the time the credits are rolling you want to be out singing Auld Lang Syne in the street with your Nan.

Over all I would rate this film 7/10. I felt all the emotions that was intended by the director and I felt a real connection with the characters. There are very few films being released at the minute that are able to play with a number of emotions and for that I believe it should be strongly recommended to others.