A Dizzying Cast of Characters Explores Love in Valentine's Day

I was supposed to be a Valentine’s Day baby. Instead, I arrived a couple of days early, which suits me fine, since I tend to have more enthusiasm for Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday I share, than for the holiday that hasn’t been too eventful for me since the end of the elementary school cardboard Valentine mailboxes. Still, I’ve never resented the holiday. I enjoy exchanging Valentines with my parents and a couple of friends, and at some point during the week, I usually make it out to the video store or the theater to catch a sappy movie. Last year, it was Valentine’s Day, a romantic comedy with an expansive cast of characters whose lives intersect on February 14 in, or on the way to, Los Angeles.

Two years ago saw the release of He’s Just Not That Into You, which had a similarly high number of characters to keep track of. Structurally, the two are fairly similar, but Valentine’s Day, directed by Garry Marshall, feels a lot less cynical, celebrating love both young and old and not restricting it to romance, either. While that is a major focus of the movie, it also lauds family relationships, mentorships and general kindness to friend and stranger alike. I found it refreshingly positive.

As with He’s Just Not That Into You, I found myself zeroing in on certain characters and zoning out on others, simply because there were so many. The main character is Reed Bennett, a puppy dog of a florist who absolutely loves Valentine’s Day and who is in an especially exuberant mood this year because his girlfriend has just accepted his marriage proposal. Ashton Kutcher plays Reed, and he surprised me in the role because usually, the mere presence of Kutcher in a movie might be enough to dissuade me from watching. I generally find him obnoxious, but here, he is thoroughly lovable, as is Jennifer Garner, who plays his childhood chum, elementary school teacher Julia Fitzpatrick – though that didn’t surprise me much, as she’s been one of my favorite actresses since her thoroughly endearing turn in 13 Going on 30.

Reed’s idyllic day is about to take a troubling turn. What everyone in the audience realizes long before he does is that his girlfriend is just not that into him – and furthermore, sweet-natured Julia is. But she has a romantic partner of her own, and he has a secret that could wreak havoc on her happiness. Aside from Reed and Julia, I was most interested in Hector Elizondo, always an actor I enjoy, as Edgar, a hopeless romantic still very much in love with his wife after decades of marriage and now ready to pass some wisdom on to his young grandson Edison (Bryce Robinson), who is determined to show the object of his affections just how much he cares. These four characters give us a strong sense of the differences between puppy love, adult romance and mature love that reflects a lifetime together.

Lots of other characters experience love in a variety of ways, too, and it’s fun to see how the different characters interconnect. At the same time, there’s little opportunity to really get to know most of the characters. The movie boasts a dizzying cast list full of familiar names: Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Taylor Swift, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts, Larry Miller, Kristen Schaal… There’s scarcely time to pick them out before we’re on to a new scene with new characters to keep track of, and it’s a constant guessing game to figure out what one storyline has to do with the others beyond the general theme.

Some of the situations in the movie are a bit on the risqué side, but the focus here is more often on love than lust, which I appreciated. The film’s biggest flaw is probably that it’s trying to do too much at once. Still, I was more touched than confused by the end of the movie, and while I wouldn't rank it among the best romantic comedies out there, Valentine’s Day makes for pretty enjoyable viewing and may just leave you with a better appreciation of the holiday that inspired it.