It’s New Year’s Eve 2012 and people come together to celebrate the new year at Times Square in New York City. There is Claire Morgan (Hilary Swank) who is responsible for the New Year’s Party at Times Square. Claire is vice-president of the Times Square Alliance and gets help from her friend the cop Brandan (Ludacris). After a few difficulties, she and Kominsky (Hector Elizondo) the electrician make the evening special for everyone even after the ball drop was about to fail.

Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) is an old pathetic lady who wants to change her life. She works for Ahron Records, when her boss denies her vacation, so she wants to change everything and do something with her life. Paul (Zac Efron) should help her with that. He delivers the mail for Ahren Records and has some tickets for the Ahren Record Masquerade Ball for Ingrid. Ingrid offers him to give him those tickets if he can make her list come true. Paul tries everything to get the tickets.

Meanwhile Randy (Ashton Kutcher), Paul’s best friend, tries to avoid New Year’s Eve and get stuck in the elevator with background singer Elise (Lea Michele).

Paul’s sister Kim (Sarah Jessica Parker) has trouble with her daughter Hailey (Abigail Breslin) about New Year’s Ever. Hailey wants to spend the night with her friends at Times Square, where she wants to kiss her boyfriend Seth (Jake T. Austin) at midnight.
Stan Harris is a cancer patient at a nearby hospital who just wants to see the final ball drop at midnight. Nurse Aimee (Halle Berry) tries her best to make his last days as comfortable as possible. In the same hospital, two couples meet that want to win the money for the first baby in the New Year. James (Til Schweiger) and Sarah (Sarah Paulson) are in a ‘baby competition’ with Griffin (Seth Myers) and Tess (Jessica Biel).

At the same time Laura (Katherine Heigl) tries to do her job which is the catering for the New Year’s Eve Party from Ahron Record. But her ex-boyfriend, the singer, Jensen (Jon Bon Jovi), makes it even harder for her because he wants her back.

Sam (Josh Duhamel) has a small car accident when he wants to come back to New York from a wedding. The pastor of the church gives him a ride back where he tells the Pastor’s wife about last year’s New Year’s Eve where he met the mysterious woman at a Party. But the woman disappeared and just left a napkin with a message for him to meet her the next year at the same spot. He has kept that napkin for the whole year.

The comedy is written by Katherine Fugate and directed by Garry Marshall. The movie ‘New Year’s Eve’ is about several stories, which are combined in some ways. This was the second movie in this format following last year’s movie, Valentine’s Day.

I was a bit disappointed that the producers considered this movie as a comedy. Besides a few moments to laugh, it was mostly touching or just without any emotion.
For me the story in the elevator didn’t even make sense. It was boring and odd how they met. From the first moment on, you could have guessed how it would end. Some stories were like just written so they have something to fill the 118 minutes. I felt a bit that the movie is mixed up without any sense. I think the funniest highlight was when the assistant of Laura (Katherine Heigl) spoke, because she had an accent and seemed a bit weird, and she didn’t talk a lot! I would not recommend the movie and I would prefer if Garry Marshall and Katherine Fugate don’t make such a story about another holiday.