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We can think of at least 19 reasons to see Valentine's Day when it opens nationwide on February 12. You ready? Here goes: Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, and Taylor Swift. Seriously, that is one heck of an A-list, mega-talented, award-winning and gorgeous cast. And there's more to like, too. They're all directed by one of Hollywood's favorite filmmakers, Garry Marshall, who's given audiences everything from Happy Days (TV) and Mork & Mindy (TV) to such movies as The Flamingo Kid (1984), Beaches (1986), Pretty Woman (1988), Runaway Bride (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004).
The film's story unfolds in a single day -- we think you can guess which day that would be -- and follows a variety of single people and couples as the hours pass in Los Angeles (or on an airplane headed to LAX). Some of them will fall in love. Some of them will fall out of love. And one or two of them at least might discover how to love themselves. Among the pairings are Alba and Kutcher, Garner and Dempsey, Hathaway and Grace, Roberts and Cooper, and MacLaine and Elizondo. We're hoping that the characters click and story segments intersect convincingly and fluidly, and that the film strikes a winning balance of romance, drama, and comedy.
It's exciting in the meantime to dig a little deeper into how Marshall assembled such a tremendous ensemble. First, given the size of the group and the intertwining storylines it's unlikely that any one actor had to work particularly long, always a plus for busy performers. Next, Marshall tapped Julia Roberts for Pretty Woman (1990), the movie that made her a superstar, and Hathaway for The Princess Diaries and its sequel, the films that transformed her into a Hollywood princess. Roberts had actually reunited with Marshall once before, for Runaway Bride. It's nice that both ladies are back in the Marshall fold, and be on the lookout for a visual tribute to Pretty Woman that involves Hathaway.
Elizondo, meanwhile, is Marshall's longtime good-luck charm. He's made cameos or played key supporting roles in nearly all of Marshall's films, most memorably playing Joe in the Princess Diaries pictures and Barney in Pretty Woman. As for the many Marshall first-timers, they probably liked the script and the cast, and wanted to work with the director, who's got a reputation for overseeing fun sets, handling even the most difficult of actors, and crafting sturdy mainstream pieces of entertainment. Also, let's not forget all the Grey's Anatomy (TV) connections or that Julia Roberts and Cooper performed together a few years back in a Broadway play or that... well, you get the idea.
Marshall and his collaborators were also wise to skew sections of Valentine's Day (2010) to a younger audience. Emma Roberts, Julia's niece, has a large fan base of her own already and here she co-stars as a teenager who plans to lose her virginity along with her boyfriend (Carter Jenkins). Bryce Robinson plays a 10-year-old school kid with a major crush on someone in his classroom. And more than a few youthful moviegoers are eager to see Swift and Lautner -- the latter of whom takes a face plant while showing off his athletic skills -- together on-screen as uber-affectionate girlfriend and boyfriend, and to scan the screen for any sparks/chemistry that led to them dating briefly in real life last year.
Honestly, if there's one film that we want to be as good as it looks, it's Valentine's Day. May the movie gods show it some love.
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