The Out-of-Towners

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Arthur Hiller (Love Story) directed the film adaptation of Neil Simon's curious comedy about a pair of non-New Yorkers (Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis) having a hellish visit to the Big Apple on the eve of a job interview for Lemmon's character. Made in 1970, this hectic film almost seems ahead of its time when compared to more recent misery-piled-on-misery comedies such as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The couple in this film endure everything that can go wrong on a trip, including being forced to spend the night in a mugger-happy Central Park. The strange element in Simon's script, though, is that Lemmon's character is so unpleasant. A middle-class, uptight guy who can't believe that New Yorkers in the service profession don't perform their jobs slavishly, he's kind of a one-note joke that quickly wears thin. Remade with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

If it can go wrong, it will go wrong makes for a downright irritating, not funny, film.......2007-08-11

The Peter Principle is the main reason I avoid entering the Indian Casino down the street. This movie pits a Midwestern man (Jack Lemmon) against the Peter Principle as he travels to NY City for his big chance job interview.

I am a huge Lemmon fan, but I found this movie irritating, not funny. The entire movie consists of one scene after another of, "if it can go wrong, it will go wrong." I can only imagine the grief this movie caused the New York Bureau of Tourism. Throughout the movie, Lemmon shares my irritation. In fact, that is his main demeanor throughout the film. He is irritated at all the bad breaks and he is constantly ranting, constantly rushing to try to overcome them. This got old for me about 8 minutes into the film and did not abate.

Still an unbeaten classic.......2007-01-15

Still a favorite movie, the story of a small-town couple trying to break into the big time in the big city. Jack Lemmon is George, seeking that big job that will launch his career and his family income to new heights. He is supported by his wife (Sandy Dennis) as they both struggle to adapt to a very different and less than friendly environment in New York city. The situations and hardships they must endure set them up for some classic Neil Simon comedy.

A remake with comedic giants Steve Martin, Goldie Hawn, and John Cleese is fair but still cannot improve on the original despite the stellar cast. In addition, the ending of the remake is not nearly as satisfying and "right" as the original. Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis are still the best out of towners.

The Out of Towners.......2007-01-09

This movie is a comedy and it is shot in the early 70's. It is a classic Jack Lemmon film. I think it is funny and it provides nostalgia. Sandy Dennis and Lemmon played off each other well. It seems they will never get through having troubles and I think we all can identify with the characters somewhat. I recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of Jack Lemmon or just happens to like comedy. There is a small part in it played by the actor Billy Dee Williams...the future Star Wars actor (among one of his many roles).

Modern comedies should emulate this movie!!.......2006-12-29

Now THIS is a funny movie! Modern comedies that seem to be spewed out on an assembly line (many of which are bad remakes, INCLUDING this movie which is nowhere NEAR as funny!) rely too much on unseemly gimmicks like nudity, foul language, special effects and horrifically distracting camera angle changes every two seconds in order to keep people watching, but The Out of Towners (rated G!) shows them all how it is done in a tasteful and howlingly funny manner! I recently told my friend about this movie as he had never seen it. I brought over my VHS copy a few days later and he laughed right along with me and now has a new movie to add to his list of favorites! This comedy is truly a hidden treasure of laughs. It's not a widely-known film, but everyone I've introduced it to has loved it!

Jack Lemmon has me laughing throughout this entire film! He was a master of comedic talents, from his facial expressions to his eccentric outbursts, and is very realistic as a harried, at-the-end-of-his-rope traveler, and is incredibly funny! I think most people can see a lot of themselves and others in George Kellerman. Sandy Dennis also does a great job as his patient, doting wife Gwen, however she too gets fed up at one point and lashes out in her own unique way.

This hilarious film has us laughing at almost all of life's mishaps, from the mildly annoying to the outrageously frustrating. Late-arriving planes, lost luggage, missed trains, getting caught in a rainstorm in downtown NY, broken heels, chipped teeth, and on and on and on. Every couple of minutes is another mishap! It never ends for these poor travelers and it's so exhaustingly funny that the ending is almost anti-climactic, although VERY fitting!

I give it 5 stars. It's engaging, well-acted, non-stop and FUNNY as hell. Oh, and did I mention it was a Neil Simon film?

Urban Nightmare Comes Alive Thanks to Neil Simon's Familiar Pen in Still-Funny Comedy.......2006-10-04

Just before tackling the treacle of "Love Story", journeyman director Arthur Hiller did a pretty decent job maneuvering this kinetic 1970 Neil Simon-penned comedy. The movie follows the misadventures of the Kellermans, an Ohio couple who journey to New York City because husband George is up for a much anticipated VP promotion in his plastics company. Wife Gwen is supportive but reticent about coming to the big city, and it turns out her hesitations are well founded. First, their flight is rerouted to Boston, and then they are crowded onto a commuter train to Grand Central Station where they are in the midst of a transit strike. The Kellermans get kidnapped in a squad car and then mugged. The Waldorf-Astoria has given away their room, and they have to spend a night in Central Park where they get mugged for a second time. George chips his front tooth on a Cracker Jack while Gwen suffers from weak ankles. The clock continues to click until George's appointment with the company president.

In typically manic form, Jack Lemmon has to play a complete jerk as George, and he luckily does not go soft with his character as he faces one indignity after another. It's just that he starts to sound more like a Neil Simon character than a real human being after a while. The shamefully underused Sandy Dennis effectively plays Gwen with cautious subservience from the outset but gradually makes her character funnier by turning her into a whining neurotic. Both actors use their familiar mannerisms maximally here, but more importantly, they are completely credible as a suburban married couple who have to lean on each other throughout. Hiller smartly uses real locations and captures an urban grittiness that makes sense within this story. Quincy Jones provides the jazzy background music here. John Hughes' partial knock-off, the equally hilarious "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987), bears a more than passing resemblance to this film. Unfortunately there are no extras with the 2003 DVD.

Average customer rating:

The Hilarity of it All...
The Out-of-Towners
Will Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn ever make it in New York City.
Extremely Funny for Everyone
Stick to the Original

The Out-Of-Towners
Starring: Steve Martin , Goldie Hawn , John Cleese , Mark McKinney , and Oliver Hudson
Director: Sam Weisman
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Urban | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 6305537291
Release Date: 1999-09-21

Amazon.com

This remake of Neil Simon's 1970 comedy finds Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin as Ohio yokels cast adrift in Rudy Giuliani's sanitized New York City. With their son recently departed for Britain, the empty-nesters travel to the Big Apple for a job interview and are beset with all kinds of bad luck, starting with their flight being rerouted to Boston. Things only go downhill from there, of course, as they're mugged by an Andrew Lloyd Webber imposter, the high-tech multilingual navigation system on their rented Cadillac goes haywire, and their hotel reservations fall through. Though this movie is marred by some out-of-place slapstick and mawkish romance scenes, it's not without its funny moments. The couple stumbles into a sexual-addiction encounter group and has to try to back out gracefully (not succeeding very well, of course). John Cleese is howlingly funny as he reprises his Fawlty Towers role of a cross-dressing hotelier, and Martin has a great drug-delirium scene, in which he's slipped a hit of LSD in jail (thinking it's aspirin). Just try not to think in terms of comparisons to Neil Simon's original and this remake works fairly well. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Reviews:

The Hilarity of it All..........2007-07-20

I don't know how anyone can NOT give this movie 5 stars...I couldn't stop laughing when I watched it! It was too good not to watch over and over again. Steve Martin & Goldie Hawn were the perfect match for this movie (and others that they've done together).

If you're looking for a good laugh...look no further...The Out-Of-Towners is a comedy you'll be watching over and over again for decades to come.

The Out-of-Towners.......2006-07-09

Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn have the chemistry together for this comedy to be as good as it is. It is a hoot! You will laugh and at the same time understand about their relationship as husband and wife. A must see movie.

Will Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn ever make it in New York City........2005-08-12

Remake of the Neil Simon film, Out of Towners (1970) starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis.
The Clark's son, Alan (Oliver Hudson, Goldie Hawn's real-life son) has finally left the coop and on to Europe. Henry Clark (Steve Martin) has an idea that now is the time to leave Iowa and get a higher-paying job in New York. Actually, he got fired from his weak advertising job and doesn't have the heart to tell his wife, Nancy (Goldie Hawn).
So Henry is on his way by airplane to New York. Could have been an ordinary trip, but Nancy suddenly runs on the airplane to surprise her husband. She announces that she has brought her husband's rash cream. That's not all, they can't land in New York City because it is fogged in. So the plane lands in God-forgotten Boston.
And so with that, getting to New York in time for the important job interview is going to be an adventure of its own. Everything goes wrong.
Also in the cast: John Cleese, Mark McKinney, Carlease Burke, Ernie Sabella, James Arone, Chris McKinney, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
This movie was filmed and released before the reality TV series, "Amazing Race" premiered on Sept. 5, 2001. Perhaps the Out-Of-Towners films gave them the idea.
The Neil Simon version of Out Of Towners (1970) with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis is much more dramatic and realistic, but written to relax and laugh. I highly recommend the 1970 version too.

Extremely Funny for Everyone.......2004-09-26

Weather you have been a tourist in New York City or live there anyone can relate to this movie. Even if you have not taken a bite out of the Big Apple the humor, plot and acting is first rate. I have seen the movie numerous times and whenever I watch it again, I still find myself laughing.

Stick to the Original.......2004-07-01

If you've seen the original "Out-of-Towners" with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis, there's really no reason to see the remake. Jack was so funny and put everything into his performance, but this time the humor just isn't there. The story is very rushed and it hurts the movie. For example, the couple leave Ohio, get on a plane, it can't land in New York, they can't find their luggage and are rerouted to Boston all in the first 20 minutes of the movie! And they altered the story a little, which cuts even more of the humor out of it. Like, instead of the hotel giving their room away, their credit card was decined. There's just nothing funny about that. Nor do I remember their going to a group in the hotel to talk about sex in the original movie! Making a remake of this incredible movie was a mistake. Or if they did want to do it, they could've taken the time to do it right.

Average customer rating:

The Hilarity of it All...
The Out-of-Towners
Will Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn ever make it in New York City.
Extremely Funny for Everyone
Stick to the Original

The Out-Of-Towners
Starring: Steve Martin , Goldie Hawn , John Cleese , Mark McKinney , and Oliver Hudson
Director: Sam Weisman
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Urban | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Black Comedy | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: 6305526079
Release Date: 1999-09-21

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

The Hilarity of it All..........2007-07-20

The Out-of-Towners.......2006-07-09

Will Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn ever make it in New York City........2005-08-12

Extremely Funny for Everyone.......2004-09-26

Stick to the Original.......2004-07-01

Steve Martin Comedy Collection (Planes Trains and Automobiles / Out of Towners / Leap of Faith)

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Steve Martin Comedy Collection (Planes Trains and Automobiles / Out of Towners / Leap of Faith)
Starring: Steve Martin , John Candy , Laila Robins , Michael McKean , and Kevin Bacon
Director: John Hughes , Richard Pearce , and Sam Weisman
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000CCBCFI
Release Date: 2006-02-07

Average customer rating:

The Out of Towners
Starring: Mo Gaffney , Goldie Hawn , Mark McKinney , Cynthia Nixon , and John Cleese
Director: Sam Weisman
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: 6305537305
Release Date: 1999-09-21

Average customer rating:

The Out-of-Towners [Region 2]
Starring: Steve Martin , Goldie Hawn , John Cleese , Mark McKinney , and Oliver Hudson
Director: Sam Weisman
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000058CAX

Average customer rating:

The Out-of-Towners [Region 2]
Starring: Steve Martin , Goldie Hawn , John Cleese , Mark McKinney , and Oliver Hudson
Director: Sam Weisman
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00005QIXY

Average customer rating:

Beautifully romantic Movie!
Lovely
Movie - 5 stars. Video transfer - 1 star - - -
Love It
Love and Kisses...Bimbo Jones

The Out-of-Towners
Starring: Sharon Cuneta , Gabby Concepcion , Ting Jocson , Fred Montilla , and Rosemarie Gil
Director: Danny Zialcita
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0000DZRHY

Customer Reviews:

Beautifully romantic Movie!.......2007-03-27

Probably one of the most romantic Films ever made, starring Geraldine Page and Glenn Ford as the unlikely couple thrown together by chance circumstances.

This Movie gives Geraldine Page an opportunity to show what a versatile actress she really is. Compare this role, say, to that which she plays in 'What Ever Happened To Aunt Alice' and you'll see what I mean! From the moment this Movie starts, you are endeared to the character Evie Jackson; her simple and child-like innocence and vulnerability moves you to tears, and will capture your heart from the beginning. From saving message cards sent to herself as mementoes from a 'lonely' trip away from home alone - to paying Bellboys to 'page' her name for nothing more than to feel 'wanted'... Evie Jackson is one of those people who is naturally 'nice', and blissfully unaware of it; someone nobody misses until they are gone from this life... Somehow, Glenn Ford's character is no-where near good enough for her, but we rejoice in the ending that makes life worth living for Evie.

A Romantic comedy that although has amusing moments, they are, at times, so terribly sad and full of melancholia, they make us want to cry...

We are still longing for this Movie to come out on DVD, and perhaps now, having lost Glenn Ford recently, this may just happen, but the Video was only ever available in the USA, and so we may still have a long wait...

True Movie Magic!

Lovely.......2006-07-01

This film came out just as I was new in Chicago, in a new city, with a new job, in a terrible lirttle apartment and so so alone. I was 25 and had all but given up ever finding love. I think I saw this movie about eight times because I could identify with the story so much. I felt no one understood me but at least this movie did. Soon after the movie left the theatre out of the blue love came to me. It was literally love at first sight and in fact both of us that day felt that at this party we were invited to we would be meeting our life partner. We of course only discovered that fact later. We were together 30 wonderful years until death separated us. When I look back at the little boy I was, so isolated, so lonely, I know the happy ending of this film is true to life. Geraldine Page is a wonder in this film, but so is everyone other actor in the screen. The feeling for New York City is keen and observant. I hope one day it comes out on DVD. It did nice box office in its time but is almost forgotten today.

Movie - 5 stars. Video transfer - 1 star - - - .......2005-05-19

Somebody at Warner Bros. wasn't paying attention. There's a problem with the audio on the VHS version. The effects and music tracks are screwed up. A single sound (knock on a door) is repeated. This ain't reverb...more like selsync feedback. A minor irritation and after a while you get used to it. But, still - C'mon you guys! It's a GREAT movie! Pay attention!

Bring on the DVD.

Love It.......2005-03-13

The first time I saw this movie, I loved it; Of course, Ms Page is good; the best, but I think portraying a middle aged postmistress at her annual postal convention and meeting a travelling salesman may just change things for her; Ok, you have this sweet,little middle aged lady(Geraldine Page), who is in NYC for her annual Postal Convention, and she happens to meet Glenn Ford, who unfortunately is up there to meet up with his fiancee(Angela Lansbury)and son, and finding out that things are not as cracked up as they can be; One of the sweetest scenes in the movie is where Page and Ford are waiting for a room and looking out the window, and somehow, they end up kissing; so romantic; a nice sleeper of a film that's cute and enjoyable;

Love and Kisses...Bimbo Jones.......2004-04-17

Are there any guys out there that ever "get it". In this film, one of them actually realizes the differences between a fling, a fraud and a floozy and he actually chooses to love the girl that is just herself...kind, caring and intersted in him. Geraldine Page is one of the greats and this performance is lesser known than the others, but it is pulled together beautifully by this wonderful artist. You actually feel the expectaion, the heartbreak, the resignation and the blissfulness of this free spirit, content upon being herself and finding love before she is too old. I cry every single time I see this film...tears of joy that a guy could cut through the chaos of his life and libido and actually fall in love with the woman he might not have selected for himself, but discovers is his perfect match.
Wonerful and recommended very highly.

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