Valentine’s Day shines with an all-star cast

Posted on May 13, 2009
Filed Under Actors, Actresses, Directors, News

Sometimes the phrase “less is more” is very helpful. It can be used to persuade others to tone it down a bit. When reading the news today over at The Hollywood Reporter I stumbled over something quite the opposite. It seems as if New Line have a new approach when casting for its latest comedy – “Valentine’s Day”. They have put together an all-star cast and… they just kept on casting I guess…

Check this names out: Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Shirley MacLaine, Bradley Cooper and Ashton Kutcher are all in final negotiations to star in the movie, which has five slightly interconnecting stories playing out during a Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles.

I can’t help thinking the script must either be FANTASTIC, I mean so good the A-list (well OK, it’s not “A-list” but more like…  “a-list”) actors just had to be part of it. Or, the script was kind of… so-so, and New Line realized they needed plenty of familiar names on the movie poster and just started pouring money on a whole bunch of Hollywood names.

A scorecard may be needed to keep track of the story lines:

- Julia Roberts is an army officer on leave from Iraq on a flight to L.A. Bradley Cooper, on the same flight, is a gay man whose lover is a closeted football player.
- Ashton Kutcher is an owner of a flower shop who proposes to his girlfriend (Jessica Alba), only to realize he is in love with his close friend, played by Jennifer Garner, who discovers her boyfriend is married.
- Shirley MacLaine plays Julia Roberts’ mother, a happy retiree who reveals to her husband a long-ago affair.
- Anne Hathaway is an assistant working at the biggest talent agency in town and dating a mail room assistant.
-  Jessica Biel is a publicist unlucky in love, who has no date on Valentine’s Day.

“Valentine’s Day” is obviously very ambitious in scope and cast. The project, which could be compared to “Love Actually,” has already upped the budget from its initial $25 million to the mid-$30 million-dollar range, though New Line would not comment on the budget. Hey, stars costs money. I know it. New Line sure as h**l knows it.

The film will be helmed by Garry Marshall.

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