Jennifer Garner and Ashton Kutcher in Valentine's Day.
Jennifer Garner and Ashton Kutcher in Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day



Ashton Kutcher shines in this likeable romcom that takes place over the course of a single February 14 in Los Angeles. That's quite a compliment for Mr Demi Moore, considering this ensemble cast reads like a who's who of Hollywood. Like Richard Curtis's Love Actually, Valentine's Day tries to cover every possible permutation of love with its vast array of characters. They include romantics (Kutcher and Jennifer Garner), unbelievers (Jamie Foxx and Jessica Biel), those in the throes of first love (Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner), an old married couple (Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo) and, of course, a love rat (Patrick Dempsey).

As is typical of interlocking ensemble dramas, some threads work better than others. It starts and ends with the story that is the staple of John Hughes and most romcoms: the guy who is with the wrong girl and only begins to realise this during the course of the movie. Kutcher is a florist who starts the day by proposing to his girlfriend (Biel). The florist's best friend (Garner) is a teacher who doesn't realise that the doctor she is involved with (Dempsey) is married. When the doctor comes in to the florist to order two sets of roses, one for his wife and the other for his mistress, Kutcher is faced with the task of trying to mend his best friend's heart.

All the storylines are cliché-ridden and the ones that work the least are those involving the younger members of the cast, from the high school shenanigans of teenage girls and boys, to the saccharine efforts of a child (Bryce Robinson) trying to get flowers delivered to his school. In contrast, the actors who play their roles with their tongue firmly in their cheek excel. Foxx has a lot of fun as a sport reporter, while Alba is engaging as a publicist who organises an anti-Valentine's Day dinner every year. Eric Dane is also amusing as the American football star reaching the end of his career.

The director Garry Marshall calls upon his Pretty Woman star, Julia Roberts, for an intriguing cameo in which she spends the movie sitting next to Bradley Cooper on a flight. They're probably the only characters who resemble real people rather than cardboard cut-outs and they are pivotal in the neat way that all the stories are tied up in the denouement. After a rocky opening, Valentine's Day wins you over with its final act, especially when the lesser stories are discarded in favour of seeing the florist get the girl of his dreams. There is even a hilarious joke from Roberts about Pretty Woman to look forward to in the end credits.

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

India squad for fourth and fifth Tests

Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
MO
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Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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MATCH INFO

Sheffield United 0 Wolves 2 (Jimenez 3', Saiss 6)

Man of the Match Romain Saiss (Wolves)

The specs: 2018 Mazda CX-5

Price, base / as tested: Dh89,000 / Dh130,000
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 188hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 251Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 7.1L / 100km

The Baghdad Clock

Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners

'Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'
Michael Beckley, Cornell Press

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

Company%20Profile
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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

THE SIXTH SENSE

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rating: 5/5

The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

RESULT

Bayern Munich 5 Eintrracht Frankfurt 2
Bayern:
 Goretzka (17'), Müller (41'), Lewandowski (46'), Davies (61'), Hinteregger (74' og)    
Frankfurt: Hinteregger (52', 55')

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5