Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day tells the intertwined stories of various Hollywood actors as they make up and break up in Los Angeles, all due to the pressures of the most romantic day of the year.

Much has been made of the cast, which seems to embody most of Hollywood, young and old (but, let's be serious, mostly young): Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Carter Jenkins, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift, Jessica Alba, and Shirley MacLaine. As writer/screenwriter Katherine Fugate informed her audience at the Xena convention last month, it's convenient for an actor to do a week's worth of work with a repertory of other actors, not having the whole thing financially rest on their shoulders if it doesn't do well.

The movie is not terribly funny, but it is terribly cute, occasionally romantic, and a couple of the stories (out of many) are touching. Also touching is seeing Shirley MacLaine making up with Hector Elizondo as her former self plays on the screen behind her. It is also fun to see Anne Hathaway as dating Topher Grace while trying to keep up with the sexy phone calls she gets, a way of paying off her student debt. And casting Julia Roberts as an Army captain was a nice touch, even though she's too old for that real life role.

The only real problem with Valentine's Day is that it dragged considerably, particularly when Ashton Kutcher's rather mundane story as a florist on this most important day was onscreen. Still, charm goes a long way. You'd think he'd get tired of smiling incessantly.

Still, $60 million worth of people found it charming on opening day. And I did, too, at least in parts.

Thumb's up.