Even confetti couldn’t overcome bad acting, cliché lines and a predictable plot to make the movie “New Year’s Eve” enjoyable.

Director Garry Marshall, who is best known for “Pretty Woman,” created “New Year’s Eve” as a follow-up to “Valentine’s Day,” a 2010 movie that also left many critics unimpressed. Both movies feature a star-studded cast in multiple story lines, but the cast flies by on screen in the boring and repetitive movies.

The new movie tells eight different stories about New Yorkers and the problems they face on New Year’s Eve. One is about a stressed woman (Michele Pfeiffer) who gets Paul (Zac Efron), a bike messenger, to help her fulfill her New Year’s resolutions, which include things like being amazed, taking a trip around the world and going to Bali. A more melancholy story is about an elderly man (Robert De Niro) who awaits his death in a hospital bed, and his one last request is to see the ball drop in Times Square. Unfortunately, the director’s attempt to cram eight different story lines into a two-hour movie is unsuccessful, and the movie ends up skipping too quickly from scene to scene before the audience can develop any emotional ties to the characters.

Scenes that were supposed to be heartfelt ended up humorous due to cheesy lines and bad acting. In one scene, rock star Jensen (Bon Jovi) attempts to win back the girl he loves (Katherine Heigl) with mushy, unoriginal lines. The only unexpected heartfelt moment is when nurse Aimee (Halle Berry) changes from scrubs to a party dress to video chat with her husband, who’s overseas on military duty.

The seemingly random choice of cast members, which include Ludacris, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ashton Kutcher, is too much for this holiday film. Besides Halle Berry, Michelle Pfeiffer was the only other actress who fit the movie well. Yes, her romance with costar Zac Efron was unexpected, but she pulled it off well. Few stars shined, and many failed to bring life to the screen.

The idea of Times Square on New Year’s Eve in and of itself is not so bad. If Marshall had focused in on a few story lines with more detail and created some unpredictable plot twists, the movie could’ve been a classic holiday film. Unfortunately, the two-hour movie drags on longer than one can bear and leaves viewers unexcited for the upcoming holiday.