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The Out-Of-Towners/** (PG-13) Why does Hollywood love road pictures? In "Forces of Nature" we see a simple trip from New York to Georgia go from Plane to Train to Bus. Now in The "Out-Of-Towners" we see a simple trip from Ohio to New York go from Plane to Train to Car, to, well you get the idea. The premise is this: two people have to get to a place but can't get there because getting there is supposed to be if not half the fun, then the defining moment for the characters. In real life the direct route between two points is a straight line. In Hollywood, it is usually via Kalamazoo. In fact, there would really not be anything worth watching here if it were not for the sheer joy that one gets from watching the re-uniting of two over the top talents; Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin (last seen in the very funny and very underrated 1992 film "Housesitter"). Notwithstanding the fact that this is a remake of a film based on the play by Neil Simon, the story is a rather pedestrian one. Henry (Steve Martin) and Nancy (Goldie Hawn) Clark are a typical couple from Ohio. After 20 something years of marriage, their last child has just left for college and now they now face the most dreaded phase of marriage: the empty nest syndrome. They confront the question any couple in this situation would ask: "what do we do with the rest of our life". To make matters worse, Henry has been fired from his advertising firm and must now go to New York for his first interview in decades. Once they get to New York, the material is perfect for the talents of Martin and Hawn. Perfect for their talents ten or twenty years ago. First, their luggage is lost by the airline. Next, they are mugged by a person who pretends to be Andrew Lloyd Webber (has there been a mugging in NY recently?). Then they get thrown out by the hotel when it turns out their daughter has maxed out the credit card. So they go in search of their daughter, who, of course, is not home. Then they get in the middle of a sexaholic meeting, then Nancy seduces a producer to get his room. Are we tired yet? I certainly was even before we got to the sexaholics. There are moments when we see why Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin would have been perfect for this material. Ms. Hawn using her still ample sexual charms (It is not fair that this woman looks as beautiful and glowing after all these years) to get a poor sucker to give up his hotel key. Mr. Martin hanging from a sign outside the hotel as they escape from hotel security. These scenes refer to some of these two actor's most celebrated moments in other films. Now, they look painful. You want to want these two to succeed, but the material just won't let them. Too many wacky moments happen too fast for two actors who are just too much past this material. Seeing Henry stoned on LSD while "Aquarius" plays in the background is not funny for the moment that it is, but what it makes us remember of Mr. Martin in years past. Even John Cleese as the transvestite hotel manager is more funny because it makes us think of the hotel manager role that Cleese played in the classic British series "Faulty Towers", than for any actual moments on the screen. In one scene Nancy remarks "When we were young, this would have been a great adventure". She was right. Twenty years ago this would have made a real screwball comedy. Studio: Paramount Pictures in association
with Cherry Alley Productions
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