Created by the same producer and director as “Valentine’s Day”, the new film “New Year’s Eve” embodies similar characteristics as the former, only set apart by the holiday it takes on. Packed with a cast of well-known actors, this film had the potential to be highly entertaining, however the outcome was the exact opposite. Even talented actors like Robert De Niro, Hilary Swank, and Michelle Pfeiffer could not save this catastrophe.

The story centers around the dropping of the ball in Times Square, and the hours that await this special moment. There were too many separate plot lines occurring at the same time, which did not allow the audience the chance to get emotionally invested into the character’s stories. Just as tears began to stream when Robert De Niro’s character lay sick in the hospital, the scene would change to Michelle Pfeiffer flying across the screen. Each plot could have been a quality movie within itself, but when mashed together, they lacked purpose.

Though the movie ultimately flopped, actresses Halle Berry and Sofia Vergara made the film slightly more bearable. Halle Berry tugged at all viewers’ hearts as she compassionately took care of the dying De Niro or as she video-chatted with her husband who is a soldier overseas. Berry put heart back into an otherwise lifeless movie. Continuing in a similar role as she plays on “Modern Family,” Vergara plays a foreigner that is not accustomed to American ways, which might seem overused in any other film, but she offers a sense of familiarity to an otherwise hectic plot. Vergara brought the comical aspect, while Berry brought the soul.

“New Years Eve’s” plot offered no significant conflict––with the biggest problem being a glitch with the ball drop––and thus there was no resolution when it was over. The movie ends and the audience leaves with nothing but a headache from attempting to follow the numerous plots. All in all the film should have been two hours of the outtakes because that was when the audience and myself laughed the hardest.