New in Town (C) Lionsgate

Romantic comedies usually go off the same blueprint over and over. A guy and girl are thrust into odd circumstances, most of the time they get off on the wrong foot, hate each other, but then see that oh-so-special quality that makes him/her a great catch. This genre is one of the most clichéd styles in film today. Renée Zellweger’s latest foray, New in Town , is no different. Rarely deviating from the tried and true formula, this film is what you’d expect from Zellweger: cute, pixie-ish and pouty. New in Town features performances from Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. (P.S. I Love You) which make the story endearing and sweet, despite the fact that the audience knows from the first few scenes (and previews that give away way too much) how the events will shape our couple.

When big time Miami executive Lucy Hill (Renée Zellweger) is sent to the frozen fields of New Ulm, Minnesota to become the plant manager in the small town’s butter factory, a bone-chilling freeze is not the only thing she encounters. Used to the fast-lane life, the high-powered Lucy (you can tell she’s high-powered by the high heels) runs face first into the seemingly backward life of New Ulm townsfolk. Enduring rampant scrapbooking, endless bowls tapioca and that horrible, horrible Minnesota winter, she is hell-bent on taking care of business at the butter plant so she doesn’t have to spend one moment longer there. That is until Ted (Harry Connick Jr.) shows up.

After being introduced over an awkward family feast planned by Lucy’s secretary Blanche (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), Lucy and Ted, as predicted, don’t get along. He likes beer and country music. She enjoys nice wine and…you get the picture. The next day Lucy discovers that the pick-up-driving Ted is the head of the local Union. Sexual tension and arguments about workers pay ensue. But after being rescued from her snow-bank stuck car, Lucy and Ted’s frigid relationship starts to thaw. Just in time too, as the almighty corporate office threatens to shut the plant down.

Though gratifying to see a gender role reversal of Lucy being the workaholic corporate suit and Ted being the primary caretaker to his daughter, there is nothing new about New in Town. Using cardboard cutouts of Minnesota stereotypes that seem stolen from Fargo, the movie hardly breaks any new ground nor does it try to. It doesn’t need to. The film is built upon a solid script from Ken Rance and C. Jay Cox, which makes a pleasant American debut for director Jonas Elmer.

Charming and fun, New in Town is a delightful surprise.