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Parents' Guide to

New in Town

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Formulaic romantic comedy has mostly mild content.

Movie PG 2009 96 minutes
New in Town Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 3 parent reviews

MediaReviews
MediaReviews Adult
May 24, 2020
age 15+

Hilarious but not for kids!

Do not follow the PG rating as appropriate. There are some rude scenes and rude talk that I would not want kids to watch or hear. It is a good film but please do not watch with your kids.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
The JP Show
The JP Show Adult
June 17, 2009
age 12+

Don't take your kids

PG? More like PG-13
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Miami food exec Lucy Hill (Renne Zellweger) wants a vice presidency job so bad she can taste it. Which explains why she volunteers to help streamline her firm's manufacturing plant in the town of New Ulm, Minn. -- an undertaking that could take months (during winter, to boot). Lucy's all business when she first arrives; the workers are suspicious, and an early run-in with handsome union rep Ted (Harry Connick Jr.) goes awry. But her walls inevitably topple in the face of her assistant's relentless cheeriness, and before long Lucy's grown attached to her employees and neighbors, especially Ted ... just in time for her to discover that her boss wants to shutter the factory for good.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (8 ):

Don't be surprised if you're overwhelmed by deja vu while watching NEW IN TOWN, because it isn't fresh at all, title notwithstanding. It resembles almost every other fish-out-of-water romantic comedy -- with a dash of Northern Exposure thrown in -- and doesn't do much to move the genre forward. Girl meets boy, who's her polar opposite. Girl hates boy, and vice versa. Girl and boy get to see each other's tender side via predictable plot point. Girl and boy fall in love. Monkey wrench appears; relationship seems doomed. But, naturally, girl and boy work it out.

Still, despite its predictability, the film does have some charm. The cast gels well, thanks in no small part to the presence of veterans like Frances Conroy and J.K. Simmons. More importantly, the two leads do have strong chemistry, and Zellweger exudes such warmth that you can't help but like her. Or at least you can't help wanting to like her, even when she does patently foolish things -- wearing a suit jacket in the middle of a Minnesota winter, for instance -- that seem more like clichhd storytelling than anything else. New in Town isn't particularly revolutionary nor memorable, but it does get points for trying.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether it's OK to play stereotypes -- whether of people or locations -- for laughs. How does the movie portray women and people from small-town Minnesota? Is it accurate or exaggerated? Can you think of movies with stronger positive female role models? Families can also discuss why so many Hollywood romantic comedies are about opposites attracting. Do you think relationships like that are as frequent (and as successful) in real life?

Movie Details

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