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| OUT-OF-TOWNERS, THE (1999) - PG-13
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ReviewScore: 34 out of 100
SBD Star Rating:
by Lew Irwin
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If you didn't like Neil Simon's 1970 The Out-of-Towners with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis -- and most critics did not -- you're probably not going to like the new version with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn any better. Many of today's (Friday) reviews compare the two films, with some wondering why the new one was made at all. Writes Stephen Hunter in the Washington Post: "If you've seen the preview, you've seen the movie. In fact, there really isn't a movie. There's a preview and then a much longer preview. ... [It's] so predictable that you could chart the tides off it." Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times observes, "Martin and Hawn do have as much charm as they have a gift for comedy, but ultimately the film is not as consistently effective as they are." But Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times concludes that The Out-of-Towners is "not a proud moment in the often-inspired careers of Martin and Hawn." Only John Cleese, in the role of a snobbish hotel manager, escapes the general derision of the critics. Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times calls Cleese's performance "a saving grace to this film" and "a comic gem." Rod Dreher in his review of the movie says that he heard one moviegoer remark on his way out: "Thank God for John Cleese." |
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