Reading America: ‘New in Town’? I’d Rather Read ‘Main Street’

The new fish-out-of-water romantic comedy, New in Town stars Ren?e Zellweger as a sharp-edged Miami business woman and Harry Connick Jr. as the flannel shirted Minnesotan for whom she falls when she comes to his frozen town to downsize his factory.

Critics are unimpressed. “Listless,” says the Los Angeles Times. The Chicago Tribune calls it, “‘The Pajama Game’ without the songs, the laughs or the bare-knuckled realism.” (It is among my dubious achievements to have played Babe Williams in my high school production of that show.)  “Pleasant but predictable rehash,” sighs Newsday.

Movies are too darn expensive these days for ho-hum, so I’m skipping this and instead will pull out my dog-eared copy of Sinclair Lewis’ 1920 novel, “Main Street,” my all-time favorite book.

I reread it at least every other year. The story of urbane Carol Kennicott’s grudging adjustment to Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, (and the town’s grudging adjustment to her) after she marries the town’s doctor is pitch-perfect social satire, both cruel and kind. The side-by-side descriptions of Carol’s first look at Gopher Prairie and that of her soon-to-be maid, farm girl Bea Sorenson, is a delicious lesson in perspective.

“Main Street” was my textbook and cautionary tale when I moved from New York City to Dallas, Texas. Of course, Dallas is no Gopher Prairie, but it’s all a matter of perspective.

©2026 World Hum, All Rights Reserved