''Valentine's Day'' is a 2010 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Garry Marshall Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American filmmaker and actor. He started his career in the 1960s writing for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play '' The Odd C ...

. The screenplay and the story were written by

Katherine Fugate Katherine Fugate (born July 14, 1965) is an American film and television writer and producer. Biography She graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Arts and a minor in Journalism from University of California, Riverside. Fugate and her aunt, the actre ...

, Abby Kohn, and Marc Silverstein. The film features an ensemble cast led by

Jessica Alba Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in '' Camp Nowhere'' and '' The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 ...

Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actor and director. Known for her roles in comedic and dramatic films and television programs, she has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, includ ...

Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake ( née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bie ...

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Grammy Awards, in addition to nominations for nine Academy Awards, si ...

Eric Dane Eric William Dane (born November 9, 1972) is an American actor. After multiple television roles in the 1990s and 2000s, which included his recurring role as Jason Dean in ''Charmed'', Dane was cast as Dr. Mark Sloan on the ABC medical drama te ...

Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fi ...

, Héctor Elizondo,

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compa ...

Topher Grace Christopher John Grace ( ; born July 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Eric Forman in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'', Eddie Brock / Venom in Sam Raimi's film ''Spider-Man 3'', Pete Monash in '' Win a Date with Tad H ...

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 2 ...

Carter Jenkins Carter Mark Jenkins (born September 4, 1991) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Aliens in the Attic'' (2009), ''Valentine's Day'' (2010), and '' Struck by Lightning'' (2012). On television, Jenkins was part of the ...

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a ...

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Qu ...

, Taylor Lautner,

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has rece ...

, Shirley MacLaine,

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991 Additional on October 9, 2016) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television projects of the horror and thriller genres, she has received various accolades, including a Young Arti ...

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and th ...

, Bryce Robinson and

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

in her film acting debut. The film received negative reviews but was a box office success.

Plot

Florist Reed Bennett wakes up and proposes to his girlfriend Morley Clarkson, who accepts. However, Reed's closest friends, Alfonso Rodriguez and Julia Fitzpatrick, aren't surprised when Morley suddenly changes her mind and leaves Reed a few hours later. On a flight to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, Kate Hazeltine, a captain in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

on a one-day leave, befriends Holden Wilson. Kate is travelling a long distance to get back home only for a short time, and Holden states that she must really be in love to do so. When the plane lands and Kate has to wait hours for the taxi, Holden offers his limousine to allow her to be there on time. Julia, an elementary school teacher, has fallen in love with cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Harrison Copeland, but does not know that he is married to Pamela. Harrison tells her that he needs to go to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

for a business trip: on his way, he stops by at Reed's flower shop and orders two flower bouquets - asking for discretion. Wanting to surprise him and despite Reed's warnings, Julia flies to San Francisco, convinced that Reed was wrong. Julia finds out that he is married and finds him at a local restaurant. Dressed as a waitress, Julia makes a scene at the restaurant, making Pamela suspicious. One of Julia's students, Edison orders flowers from Reed, to be sent to his teacher. Julia suggests to Edison to give the flowers to a girl named Rani in his class who has a crush on him after telling Edison the meaning of love. Edison's babysitter Grace Smart is planning to lose her

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

to her boyfriend Alex Franklin. The planned encounter goes awry when Grace's mother discovers a naked Alex in Grace's room, rehearsing a song he wrote for Grace. Edison's grandparents, Edgar and Estelle Paddington are facing the troubles of a long marriage. Estelle admits to Edgar about an affair she had with one of his business partners long ago. Although she is deeply sorry, Edgar is very upset. Grace's high school friends, Willy Harrington and Felicia Miller are experiencing the freshness of new love and have agreed to wait to have sex. Sean Jackson, a closeted

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

professional football player, is contemplating the end of his career with his publicist Kara Monahan and his agent Paula Thomas. Kara is organizing her annual "I Hate Valentine's Day" party, but soon becomes interested in sports reporter Kelvin Moore, who was ordered to do a Valentine's Day report by his boss Susan Moralez, and who shares Kara's hatred of the holiday. Substituting for Paula's absent secretary is one of the firm's receptionists, Liz Curran, who dates mail-room clerk Jason Morris. Jason is shocked when Liz turns out to be moonlighting as a phone sex operator. Liz explains that she is only doing this because she has a $100,000 student loan to pay off. Jason is upset, but eventually reconciles with her after seeing Edgar forgive Estelle. Sean finally comes out on national television, and Holden, Sean's lover, goes back to him. Kate arrives home late at night to greet not her supposed boyfriend but her son Edison. Willy drops Felicia off at home after a date and they kiss. Kelvin and Kara hang out at Kelvin's news station where they later kiss. Alfonso dines with his wife, and Grace and Alex agree to wait to have sex. Edgar and Estelle reconcile and redo their marriage vows, Harrison's wife has left him because of his infidelity and Morley tries to call Reed, who is instead starting a new relationship with Julia. Paula receives a call from one of Liz's masochistic clients and takes delight in expressing her dominance and sadism.

Cast

as Morley Clarkson *

as Susan Milton *

as Kara Monahan *

as Holden Wilson *

as Sean Jackson *

as Dr. Harrison Copeland * Héctor Elizondo as Edgar Paddington *

as Kelvin Moore *

as Julia Fitzpatrick *

as Jason Morris *

as Elizabeth Curran *

as Alexander Franklin *

as Reed Bennett *

as Paula Thomas * Taylor Lautner as William Harrington *

as Alfonso Rodriguez * Shirley MacLaine as Estelle Paddington *

as Grace Smart *

as Cpt. Katherine Hazeltine (née Paddington) * Bryce Robinson as Edison *

as Felicia Miller

Music

The score to ''Valentine's Day'' was composed by

John Debney John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductor of film, television, and video game scores. His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres including comedy, horror, thriller, and action-adventure. He is a l ...

, who recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage. He also wrote a song for the film, "Every Time You Smiled", with award-winning lyricist

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album '' Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Alb ...

which was performed by

Carina Round Carina Round (born 20 April 1979) is a British singer-songwriter from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England. Career In the summer of 1996, following a gig in a basement acoustic club in Wolverhampton, Round was given a three-night su ...

. The movie's official soundtrack was released on February 9, 2010 via

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...

. It features the movie's leading song, Jewel's " Stay Here Forever", which was released as a single on January 19, 2010 and has charted on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. The soundtrack also includes " Today Was a Fairytale" by Taylor Swift, which debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, breaking a record for highest first-week sales by a female artist. Swift's song "Jump Then Fall" from the Platinum edition of her album '' Fearless'' was also featured on the soundtrack. Debney's score album, including "Every Time You Smiled" (written by Debney and

, and not included on the song CD), was released digitally on April 7, 2010 by Watertower Music.

also recorded a song for the film which is called "Quit Your Job". It appears in the film but not on the soundtrack however, because of its vulgar lyrics. "

I Gotta Feeling "I Gotta Feeling" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by the group members with the song's producers David Guetta and Frédéric Riesterer. The song was re ...

" by

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hi ...

was used for the film's trailer. Track listing for the score album: # "The Proposal/Trying to Tell Her" – 2:20 # "The Makeup/First Kiss" – 2:25 # "Apartment Dwelling/Hollywood Loft" – 0:48 # "Arrival/Airport/Catching Julia/Gotta Stop Them" – 2:55 # "Flower Shop Talk/To the Restaurant/The Realization/Mi Familia" – 3:27 # "Light Conversation/Chivalrous Gestures/He's Married/Forget Me Not" – 3:25 # "Liz Leaves/Having Sex/I Have No Life" – 3:10 # "Julia Sees the Light/Edgar & Estelle/Young Love/First Time" – 3:31 # "She Said No/Don't Go/I Like Her" – 3:50 # "My Life's a Mess/This Is Awkward" – 1:22 # "Ride Home/Guys Talk" – 1:47 # "Mom's Home/Soccer Practice/Bike Ride" – 2:23 # "Reed and Julia" – 2:26 # "Valentine's Day" – 2:31 # "Every Time You Smiled" (

) – 2:53

Reception

Box office

The film debuted in the US on February 12, 2010 with $52.4 million its opening weekend, grabbing the number 1 spot over the holiday that shares its name. The film ousted two other high-profile openings; 20th Century Fox's action fantasy '' Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief'', which debuted at number 2 with $31.1 million over three days, and Universal's werewolf film '' The Wolfman'', with $30.6 million. It is currently the third-highest opening weekend in February, and the second highest-grossing

President's Day Presidents' Day, also called Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February to honor all persons who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879 ...

weekend film. On Monday, February 15, 2010, ''Valentine's Day'' went down to #2 behind ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief'', but then went back up #1 on Tuesday. On Friday, February 19, it went down to #2 behind ''Shutter Island'' then to #3 the next day. By Friday, February 26, it went down to #5 behind ''Shutter Island'', ''The Crazies'', ''Cop Out'' and ''Avatar''. By March 18, it went down to #14. It stayed in theaters until May 6, 2010. With that record, it is the second biggest opening for a romantic comedy film behind ''Sex and the City'' with $57 million. The passing of the Valentine's Day holiday later had the film's box office results quickly declining with a total of $110 million in the United States and Canada as well as an additional $106 million overseas for a grand total of $216 million worldwide.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 18% based on 190 reviews and an average rating of 4.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Eager to please and stuffed with stars, ''Valentine's Day'' squanders its premise with a frantic, episodic plot and an abundance of rom-com cliches." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 34 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Yahoo movies critics averaged the film's grade as a C−. Giving the film 3/4

stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

, the overall opinion of Carrie Rickey's review for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' is that "It is a pleasant, undemanding movie that takes place over 18 hours on V-Day and considers Very Attractive People whose romantic destinies converge, diverge, and cloverleaf like the interstates threading through California's

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

". Betsy Sharkey of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' commented that "The effect of all those spinning songs, stars and scenarios is merry-go-round-like, producing a sort of dizzying collage that no doubt some will adore, while others will just get nauseous...". British film critic Mark Kermode called the film a "greeting card full of vomit". Rene Rodriguez for the '' Miami Herald'' gave the film 2/4 stars, describing the film as "surfing through the channels of an all-chick-flick cable service". Rodriguez also criticized the film's blandness, stating the film should have "shed some of its blander plotlines ��and spent a little more time exploring the thrill and elation of being in love – or at least just being horny". '' Slate'' movie critic Dana Stevens wrote that the film "lacks in charm, humor, and intelligence...".

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' gave the film one star out of four. Travers' analysis of the film simply states that "''Valentine's Day'' is a date movie from hell". Jonathan Ross was not complimentary either on his '' Film 2010'' show. He said "I thought the film was just awful". Journalist Sady Doyle, in a very hostile review of the film, argued that ''Valentine's Day'' was the worst film ever made. ''Valentine's Day'' is noted for sharing similarities with the British film ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'', particularly the basic premise of multiple storylines occurring around a popular holiday, and sometimes identical subplots. Many British bloggers and online critics described ''Valentine's Day'' as "an American copycat version of ''Love Actually'', focusing on how ''Valentine's Day'', like ''Love Actually'', has an all-star cast whose characters' storylines intertwine with one another. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' named it one of the top 10 worst

chick flick Chick flick is a slang term, sometimes used pejoratively, for the film genre catered specifically to women's interests, and is marketed toward women demographics. They generally tend to appeal more to a younger female audience and deal mainly ...

Accolades

Home media

''Valentine's Day'' was released on Region 1

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, iTunes and Blu-ray Disc on 18 May 2010.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine's Day 2010 films 2010 LGBT-related films 2010 romantic comedy films American LGBT-related films American romantic comedy films 2010s English-language films Films about marriage Films directed by Garry Marshall Films scored by John Debney Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Golden Raspberry Award winning films LGBT-related romantic comedy films New Line Cinema films Valentine's Day in films Warner Bros. films 2010s American films