The Out-of-Towners (1999)

The remake of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy follows the adventures of a couple, Henry and Nancy Clark, vexed by misfortune while in New York City for a job interview.

Director:

Sam Weisman

Writers:

Neil Simon (based upon the screenplay by), Marc Lawrence (screenplay)

Stars:

Steve Martin, Goldie Hawn, John Cleese

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Henry Clark
Goldie Hawn	...	Nancy Clark
John Cleese	...	Mr. Mersault
Mark McKinney	...	Greg
Oliver Hudson	...	Alan Clark
Valerie Perri	...	Stewardess
Steve Mittleman	...	Passenger
Randall Arney	...	Passenger
Carlease Burke	...	Airline Representative
William Duell	...	Lost Baggage Clerk
J.P. Bumstead	...	Boston Cab Driver
Peggy Mannix	...	Sweeper Woman
Anne Haney	...	Woman in Bathroom
Charlie Dell	...	Janitor on Train
Jordan Baker	...	Rental Car Clerk

Storyline

The remake of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy follows the adventures of a couple, Henry and Nancy Clark, vexed by misfortune while in New York City for a job interview.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | remake | job interview | baggage | room service | 

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Taglines:

They fell in love 24 years ago... and in the next 24 hours, they'll remember why.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sex and drug-related humor

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 April 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bønder i byen

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£96,817 (UK) (5 November 1999)

Gross:

ESP 58,399,285 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cherry Alley Productions, Cort/Madden Productions, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second of two Neil Simon written films starring comedian-actress Goldie Hawn. The first had been Seems Like Old Times.

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Goofs

When Henry is singing in the shower and 'butt flossing', it's apparent that he's wearing dark-colored boxer shorts.

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Quotes

Henry Clark: You're throwing us out?
Mr. Mersault: Good heavens, no. Security will do that.

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Connections

Referenced in Game K N B: Episode dated 5 October 2006 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"(Just Like) Starting Over"
Written and Performed by John Lennon (1980)
Courtesy of Capital Records under license from EMI Music Special Markets

User Reviews

banal remake

Neil Simon's script for the original 1970 hit, "The Out-of-Towners," was, essentially, a one-joke skit stretched out to a feature-length film. Starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as two suburbanites from Ohio who experience a nightmare of frustrating complications when they hit the Big Apple, the film managed to generate some laughs as well as a great deal of grating repetitiousness.

The 1999 remake, with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn in the central roles, manages to be a far worse film. The original at least seemed grounded in some sense of reality as the couple fell victim to a believable, if overstated, series of tourist mishaps; this version spins off into slapstick delirium, going so far as to have its main characters actually swinging on hotel signs six stories above street level and John Cleese as a snippy concierge prancing around in lady's clothing to Donna Sommer's "Bad Girls." Also, in the original, Jack Lemmon seemed determined to really take on all the people who arrayed themselves against him and the film conveyed a real sense of this implacable, almost malevolent force known as NEW YORK coming down with all its might on this innocent couple from the Midwest. In the remake, Steve Martin seems strangely passive and unharried and the victory-over-the-city theme comes along only at the very end. Without that added dimension of epic frustration, the new film robs the original of whatever audience identification it might once have had and simply devolves into an undisciplined display of unfunny slapstick.

Martin, Hawn and Cleese are game players, but this "Out-of-Towners" should indeed have been driven out of town!