This Vegas Is a Bad Bet

Heigl, Kutcher can't revive a stale romantic comedy

(NEWSER) - The makers of Killers, the new rom-com with Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher, didn't let critics screen it. Always a great sign. From the few reviews out there:

• Geoff Berkshire, Metromix : "Utterly unconvincing as action, comedy or romance, it’s a colossal waste of time and a shocking choice for Heigl at this point in her career."
• Drew McWeeny, HitFix : "This is not a terrible, terrible, terrible movie. One terrible will probably get the job done."

Critics massacre sappy ensemble romantic comedy

(NEWSER) - Romantic comedy Valentine's Day is stuffed with stars and subplots, but the quantity doesn't make up for the lack of quality, say critics in mostly negative reviews.

• This "is a date movie from hell," writes Peter Travers at Rolling Stone , wondering how Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall persuaded "a big name cast to stuff themselves into this box of rancid heart-shaped chocolates."

Subprime rom-com maxes out the clichés

(NEWSER) - Chick-lit flick Confessions of a Shopaholic is one victim the credit crisis should have claimed, say critics. Isla Fisher stars as a credit card addict who lands a job at a financial magazine, but her considerable comic gifts are wasted by a script that turns her into a "babbling ninny," Moira Macdonald writes in the Seattle Times. More»

Bland rom-com fails to rise above heap of clichés

(NEWSER) - Fish-out-of-water romantic comedy New In Town takes an old recipe and follows it to the letter, say critics. That's not a good thing. Renee Zellweger stars as a cynical Miami exec sent to cut jobs in an icy Minnesota hamlet full of warm-hearted folks, with results you can see coming "all the way from Duluth," John Anderson writes in Newsday. More»

Lame rom-com makes Bride of Chucky look like Dr. Zhivago

(NEWSER) - It's only January, but Bride Wars looks like a perfect match for the Worst Film of 2009 title, say critics. It's a "synthetic chick-flick-rom-com-formulaic-retread," writes Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway star as a best friends who become fierce enemies when their weddings at New York's swank Plaza Hotel get booked on the same day. More»