New Year's in the Big Apple: 20 intertwined love stories set against the pulsating panorama of Metropolis.

Picture gallery

New Year's in New York: a representative of the Times Square Alliance (Hilary Swank) has to make sure a party goes smoothly. At the same time, a top chef (Katherine Heigl) and her sous-chef (Sofia Vergara) are cooking for the most coveted party of the evening, which a rock star named Jensen (Jon Bon Jovi) is scheduled to attend. A man who hates New Year's (Ashton Kutcher) and Jensen's back-up singer (Lea Michele) get stuck in an elevator together, a teenager (Abigail Breslin) fights with her mother (Sarah Jessica Parker) about whether she can go out alone and a secretary (Michelle Pfeiffer) who's just quit her job hires a motorcycle courier (Zac Efron) to make her New Year's wish come true.

Since the UK film Love Actually exploded in screens in 2003, Hollywood has tried to copy the formula with movies like He's Just Not That Into You and Valentine's Day. But while Love Actually is about normal people with flaws, the characters in New Year's Eve are as unrealistic as Santa Claus. Garry Marshall's romcom will appeal to those – mainly female – viewers who made Mamma Mia! a hit, but they deserved a better movie.