Movie Review: NEW IN TOWN

Admittedly, I've never really understood the image of executive women that's typically presented in the media. Being a business owner, and one who's achieved what I consider to be success, it's always confused me that the image of a "successful" woman in magazines is inevitably someone wearing completely impractical heels and a bag that costs as much as I pay for groceries in a year - who wakes up at 5am every morning, goes to bed at midnight, and somewhere in there manages to fit in a family. Call me crazy, but I walk everywhere. I'm a flats and hiking boots kinda girl.

When I started watching New in Town (the new Renée Zellweger film from Lionsgate), I initially bristled at Zellweger's character, a Miami-based food company executive who gets thrust into running one of the company's plants in Minnesota and facilitating a changeover in product lines. Initially, Zellweger's character is portrayed as someone who's too caught up in her work to notice the world around her. She wears impractical clothing. She insults the locals (and, as it turns out, all the people who would be in the best position to help her). I found her shallow and annoying.

But, as the movie goes on, Zellweger's character begins to adapt to her new situation, and the movie offers a few really important lessons to professional women.

1. Don't underestimate the folks that work beneath you. Zellweger's character initially behaves, well, badly, towards her assistant when she invites Connick to dinner so Zellweger can meet him. Although Zellweger thought that the assistant was inviting Connick to set her up with him, she actually invited him because he's the union boss, and she wanted to give her the chance to meet him casually before they had to meet professionally, and discuss potential layoffs.

2. Be adaptable. Although it takes her a while, Zellweger realizes that making her new situation work isn't just about suits and stilettos and being tough as nails. She had to find ways to work with a completely different set of people with an entirely different set of needs, and she managed it very well.

3. When disaster threatens to strike, look for the opportunity. Without getting too much into movie spoilers, one of my favorite moments in the movie is when Zellweger is faced with orders from above that could dismantle everything she'd worked for. Instead of accepting defeat, she finds an opportunity within the community that creates a win-win for everyone.

All this, and the chemistry between Zellweger and Connick is, quite frankly, really nice to watch.