The Out-of-Towners (1999 film)
Encyclopedia
The Out-of-Towners is a 1999
film starring Steve Martin
and Goldie Hawn
. The movie is a remake
of a 1970 film
by the same name; the original version, written by Neil Simon
, starred Jack Lemmon
and Sandy Dennis
.
as Mr. Mersault, the hotel manager, a character similar to the one Cleese played in the television series Fawlty Towers
. Most of the differences are due to the characterizations of Hawn and Martin, who are both mainly comedic actors with very individual styles (the 1970 film had Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis playing their roles very seriously, largely the source of many of the film's laughs). Consequently, the 1999 film stands alone as a Hawn and Martin collaboration, rather than as a comparable remake of an already successful film.
website, with Roger Ebert
commenting that the movie "was not a proud moment in the often-inspired careers of Martin and Hawn." Most of the negative reviews point to Cleese as the only redeeming factor of the film.
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
film starring Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
and Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
. The movie is a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of a 1970 film
The Out-of-Towners (1970 film)
The Out-of-Towners is a 1970 comedy film written by Neil Simon, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. It was released by Paramount Pictures on May 28, 1970....
by the same name; the original version, written by Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
, starred Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
and Sandy Dennis
Sandy Dennis
Sandra Dale “Sandy” Dennis was an American theater and film actress. In 1966, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.-Early life:...
.
As remake of 1970 film
There are subtle differences from the original, such as the couple's credit card being declined at the hotel (instead of their room being given away as in the original), but the script is largely faithful to the 1970 version. The remake also has the addition of John CleeseJohn Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
as Mr. Mersault, the hotel manager, a character similar to the one Cleese played in the television series Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
. Most of the differences are due to the characterizations of Hawn and Martin, who are both mainly comedic actors with very individual styles (the 1970 film had Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis playing their roles very seriously, largely the source of many of the film's laughs). Consequently, the 1999 film stands alone as a Hawn and Martin collaboration, rather than as a comparable remake of an already successful film.
Reception
The movie was a disappointment critically and commercially. It has a 23% rating on the Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
website, with Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
commenting that the movie "was not a proud moment in the often-inspired careers of Martin and Hawn." Most of the negative reviews point to Cleese as the only redeeming factor of the film.
Cast
- Steve MartinSteve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
... Henry Clark - Goldie HawnGoldie HawnGoldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
... Nancy Clark - Mark McKinneyMark McKinneyMark Douglas Brown McKinney is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for his work in the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. Following the run of their television series and feature film , he went on to star in Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1997...
... Greg - Oliver HudsonOliver HudsonOliver Rutledge Hudson is an American actor. He is the son of Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson, and brother of Kate Hudson...
... Alan Clark - Valerie Perri ... Stewardess
- Steve Mittleman ... Passenger
- Randall Arney ... Passenger
- Carlease Burke ... Airline Representative
- William DuellWilliam DuellDarwin William Duell is an American actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Andrew McNair in the musical 1776, Jim Sefelt in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Johnny the Snitch on the 1982 crime comedy series Police Squad!.He also had a small part in the film Cradle Will Rock as a...
... Lost Baggage Clerk - J.P. Bumstead ... Boston Cab Driver
- Peggy Mannix ... Sweeper Woman
- Anne HaneyAnne HaneyAnne Haney was an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as social worker Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire, Greta the secretary in Liar Liar, and for her unique, low-octave voice.-Career:...
... Woman in Bathroom - Charlie Dell ... Janitor on Train
- Jordan Baker ... Rental Car Clerk
- Tom Riis Farrell ... Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
- Dani Klein ... Michelle
- John CleeseJohn CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
... Mr. Mersault - Daniel Parker ... Desk Clerk
- Cynthia DarlowCynthia DarlowCynthia A. Darlow is an American actress who for five seasons was part of the ensemble cast on the series Square One TV. Her most notable character was Judge Sandra Day O'Crater in the "Mathcourt" segments...
... Desk Clerk - Alyson Palmer ... Shoplifter
- Elizabeth Ziff ... Shoplifter
- Diane Cheng ... Korean Grocer
- Christopher DurangChristopher DurangChristopher Ferdinand Durang is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.- Life :...
... Paranoid Man - Mo GaffneyMo GaffneyMaureen E. "Mo" Gaffney is an American actress, comedian, writer and activist.-Biography:She hosted two of her own television talk shows: Women Aloud! and The Mo Show...
... Paranoid Woman - Mary TestaMary TestaMary Testa is an American stage actress. She is a two-time Tony Award nominee, for performances in revivals of Leonard Bernstein's On the Town and 42nd Street ....
... Dominatrix - Monica Birt ... Supermodel
- John Elsen ... Deli Guy
- Babo Harrison ... Well Dressed Woman
- Josh MostelJosh MostelJoshua "Josh" Mostel is an American actor who is best known for his roles in Jesus Christ Superstar and two Adam Sandler films .-Life and career:...
... Dr. Faber - Gregory JbaraGregory Jbara-Early life:Jbara was born in Nankin Township , Michigan, the son of an advertising office manager and an insurance claims adjuster. He is of Lebanese and Irish descent. After graduating from Wayne Memorial High School in Wayne, Michigan, Jbara attended the University of Michigan from 1979 to 1981...
... Edward - Amy Ziff ... Edward's Friend
- Cynthia NixonCynthia NixonCynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
... Sheena - French Napier ... Sexaholic
- Joseph MaherJoseph MaherJoseph Maher was an Irish character actor who appeared in 43 films and was nominated for three Tony Awards and a Drama Desk Award for his supporting roles on the stage.-Career:...
... Mr. Wellstone - Constance McCashinConstance McCashinConstance McCashin is an American actress.McCashin was born in Chicago. She is best known for her role as Laura Avery Sumner on the prime time drama Knots Landing, which she played from the show's debut in 1979 until 1987 when the character died of a brain tumor and her funeral was the basis of...
... Mrs. Wellstone - Steve Bean ... Greg's Friend
- James Arone ... Room Service Waiter
- Philip Earl Johnson ... Hotel Security Man
- Ernie SabellaErnie SabellaErnest "Ernie" Sabella is an American actor, who is best known for his role as the official voice of Pumbaa from the The Lion King.-Life and career:...
... Getaway Driver - Jack Willis ... Robber
- John PizzarelliJohn PizzarelliJohn Paul Pizzarelli, Jr. is an American jazz guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader. He has had a lengthy career as a recording artist, performing for a variety of labels that include Telarc Records, RCA Records and Chesky Records, among others...
... Bandleader - Mayor Rudolph GiulianiRudy GiulianiRudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
... Himself - Scotty BlochScotty BlochScotty Bloch is an American stage and television actress. She has been an actress since the 1940s. Her TV work included a recurring role on Kate and Allie as Jane Curtin's mother.-Background:...
... Florence Needleman - Chris McKinney ... Arresting Cop
- Joe GrifasiJoe GrifasiJoseph G. "Joe" Grifasi is an American character actor of film, stage and television.Grifasi was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Patricia and Joseph J. Grifasi, a skilled laborer. Grifasi graduated from Bishop Fallon High School, a now defunct Catholic high school in Buffalo. He played...
... Arresting Cop - Jerome Preston BatesJerome Preston BatesJerome Preston Bates is an American actor.-Biography:Bates was born in Augusta, Georgia, and grew up across the street from the Delmar...
... Prisoner #1 - Jack McGee ... Sergeant Jordan
- Jacinto Taras Riddick ... Prisoner #2
- L.B. Fisher ... Howard the Bellman
- Janna Lapidus ... Central Park Woman
- T. Scott Cunningham ... Paul
- Mandy Siegfried ... Receptionist
- Jenn Thompson ... Lisa Tobin
- John Gould Rubin ... Bill
- Christopher Duva ... Barry the Bellman
- Arthur French ... Cab Driver
- Jessica CauffielJessica CauffielJessica Cauffiel is an American actress and singer.-Early life:Cauffiel was born in Detroit, Michigan; her mother is a social worker and her father is Lowell Cauffiel, a best-selling true crime author, screenwriter and television documentary producer...
... Susan Clark
External links
- The Out-of-Towners at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- The Out-of-Towners at Box Office MojoBox Office MojoBox Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...