Girl is driven by her big-city career. Girl gets relocated to a small, rural town somewhere in Minnesota. Girl meets lonely-heart single dad.

Hmm, let’s guess where this is going. "Sweet Home Alabama," anyone? Even I’m a sucker for a mediocre romantic comedy every once in a while, but c’mon.

One of the problems with "New in Town" — and there are many — is there is absolutely no investment. Watching this movie is like reading only the first page in each chapter of a book, or, heck, maybe just the CliffsNotes.

Right off the bat we’re (barely) introduced to Lucy Hill (Renee Zellweger), a corporate climber in Miami who is fast on her way to becoming a big-time vice president of (insert any ol’ company here). The only reason we know this is because she has a bangin’ wardrobe, fancy car and nice pad. Before we get to know anything else about her, though, she’s jet-setting off to New Ulm, Minn., with the charge of making the plant there more efficient.

Immediately upon her arrival she meets Blanche Gunderson (Siobhan Fallon), the plant’s secretary (not the executive assistant). Blanche and her scrapbooking crew are a stereotypical Midwestern bunch, complete with embroidered bird sweaters, thick accents and big hearts for Jesus. Director Jonas Elmer uses the car ride with Blanche to quickly give us the lowdown on Lucy. She’s not married, doesn’t have kids, jokes about religion and is definitely not into "scrapping."

The predictable twists and turns go something like this: Lucy doesn’t take any warm clothes to Minnesota in November. (Really? We’re supposed to believe that a high-level executive has no clue that it might be cold in Minnesota in November?) The townspeople, including a diner waitress named Flo, shun her for fear she — like all the others before her — is only there to lay everyone off. Lucy then gets off on the wrong foot with Ted Mitchell, a very scruffy Harry Connick Jr., only to realize he is, in fact, the plant’s local union rep.

There are some redeeming scenes, however, like when Lucy helps Ted’s hockey-playing daughter Bobbie get ready for her first dance. And there were maybe two or three sparks (finally) between Lucy and Ted on their crow-hunting date.

Both Connick and Zellweger are ho-hum throughout, almost like they, too, are completely bored by the script. The character development is just not there. Ted doesn’t even mention his deceased wife until midway through the movie. Blanche is the only one I really started to care about as the movie played out. Even as ridiculously over-the-top and out-of-touch as her character is, Fallon carries it.

And when you think the movie is just about over, we are thrown an oddball curve that totally misses. I guess Elmer realized just how predictable his movie had become, so he desperately tried to pile on a little more.

This mediocre rom-com feels mass-produced and is destined to go the way of dozens of others like it. I’ve forgotten the others, though.

If this review seems as cold and harsh as a Minnesota winter, maybe it will help to know that I did get teary when boy kissed girl near the end. That kiss will always grab me, no matter how bad the rest of the movie is leading up to it.