IMDb > The Out-of-Towners (1999)
The Out-of-Towners
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The Out-of-Towners (1999) More at IMDbPro »

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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.
The Out-of-Towners (1999) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
4.9/10   6,007 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 17% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Neil Simon (earlier screenplay)
Marc Lawrence (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Out-of-Towners on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 April 1999 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
They fell in love 24 years ago... and in the next 24 hours, they'll remember why.
Plot:
The remake of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy follows the adventures of a couple, Henry and Nancy Clark,... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
Re Written? more (97 total)

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
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for some sex and drug-related humor.
Runtime:
90 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Joseph Maher's last film. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Henry's necktie becomes neatly tied between shots when he is on the elevator. more
Quotes:
Henry Clark: You're throwing us out?
Mr. Mersault: Good heavens, no. Security will do that.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Ken Adam: Designing Bond (2000) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Limboland more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
Re Written?, 26 July 1999
Author: Steve Baker (s.baker@iig.com.au) from Cairns Australia

The Out of Towners could have easily been called The Empty Nesters, or perhaps The Empty Plotters.

Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin play Alice and Henry, a husband and wife of 27 years who's last child, (he's in his twenties) is tearfully sent off to Europe early in the film. He's not crying, they are, or are likely to. Anyway the parents flinch and then head off from their hick home town in Ohio to New York.

Henry has a job interview to attend and we all know what middle aged, middle order executives looking for a job might run in to, at least in an intelligent script written properly for the nineties.

The Out Of Towners was based on a screenplay penned by Neil Simon in the early 70's. The story has been re written for this version but it seems that the comedy slant was firmly in the sights of the producers. The plot was therefore left high and dry. It needed a much heavier rewrite.

Henry and Alice have both been in advertising, but Alice has given the game away while she's been mothering the children. Henry is tired and a bit dowdy. It would be expected that a truly modern script would have found Alice moving back into her old career and Henry taking on home duties.

Henry says as much in the film! Their daughter has also been accruing horrendous credit card debts on cash stricken Dad's card. This is glossed over in happy land Hollywood. And what's to become of Alice? She's lost for a career.

So this emasculated script is left to flounder and to rely on a good deal of slapstick. Neil Simon's clever dialogue is largely gone, and the plot is without depth.

We're left with a good deal of arm flapping, particularly from Goldie Hawn. As I write this, The First Wives Club (much, much funnier than The Out Of Towners) is on TV in the same room and there's Goldie again, arms a flapping, bum a poutin'.

If there's a chair either Henry or Alice will fall over it, and as is the way these days, if there's a buffoon sidekick, he'll be gay.

But still, except for it's contrived, energetic humour, which some patrons will enjoy immensely, The Out Of Towners does work reasonably well. There are one or two warm smiles, and perhaps a laugh or two, but really a bit more heart and common sense and a dose of plot credibility would have been an advantage.

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Message Boards

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
what I learned from this film: Contore
Not better than the original deo4012
Was anyone bothered by the shady acts of Hawn and Martin? jackrabbit20
Goldie looked good! KatiBoBati
Where's George Costanza? johnnynuxxx
A friend of mine is in this movie JRC-6
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