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''The Out-of-Towners'' is a 1999 American
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...
starring
Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
and
Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...
. It is a
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...
of the 1970 film of the same name written by
Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...
and starring
Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadi ...
and Sandy Dennis.


Plot

Henry and Nancy Clark are a couple living in a quiet Ohio town. Married for 27 years, their last child has left home and Nancy is suffering from
empty nest syndrome Empty nest syndrome is a feeling of grief and loneliness parents may feel when their children move out of the family home, such as to live on their own or to attend a college or university. It is not a clinical condition. Since young adults moving ...
. Unbeknownst to Nancy, Henry has lost his job due to corporate downsizing and has an interview in New York. She sneaks on the plane with him and they begin a disastrous series of misadventures. Their plane is rerouted to Boston, their luggage is lost, they are mugged at gunpoint and their daughter has used their credit card to the point where it has reached its limit. They are thrown out of their hotel by a pompous manager named Mersault who also indulges in secretly cross dressing using guests' clothing. Forced to live by their wits on the street, the couple find themselves caught up in a robbery and chased by the police through
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
. In the end, Henry aces his job interview and he and Nancy begin a new life together in New York City. They (as well as Mersault openly in full-drag) go to see their daughter perform on Broadway.


Cast

*
Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
as Henry Clark *
Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...
as Nancy Clark *
Mark McKinney Mark Douglas Brown McKinney (born June 26, 1959) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known as a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, which includes starring in the 1989 to 1995 TV series ''The Kids in the Hall'' and 1 ...
as Greg *
Oliver Hudson Oliver Rutledge Hudson (born September 7, 1976) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Adam Rhodes in the CBS comedy series ''Rules of Engagement'' (2007–2013), Jeff Fordham on the ABC musical drama series ''Nashville'' (2013–20 ...
as Alan Clark *
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
as Mr. Mersault


Production

Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn first worked together in ''
Housesitter ''Housesitter'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Mark Stein, and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise involves a woman with con-artist tendencies who worms her way into the life of a rese ...
'' (1992). Henry and Nancy Clark's son Alan is played by Goldie Hawn's real-life son,
Oliver Hudson Oliver Rutledge Hudson (born September 7, 1976) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Adam Rhodes in the CBS comedy series ''Rules of Engagement'' (2007–2013), Jeff Fordham on the ABC musical drama series ''Nashville'' (2013–20 ...
. Much footage from the film was reportedly stolen, which resulted in many scenes having to be reshot.


Reception

''The Out-of-Towners'' was a disappointment critically and commercially. It has a 28% rating on the
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
website from 39 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Solid source material and a cast of talented comedians aren't enough to make ''The Out-of-Towners'' worth hosting on a screen of any size."
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
commented 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.


See also

*
List of American films of 1999 A list of American films released in 1999. '' American Beauty'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. External links * * List of 1999 box office number-one films in the United States * 1999 in American television * 1999 in the United S ...


References


External links

* *
''The Out-of-Towners''
at
Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray be ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Out-of-Towners 1999 films 1999 comedy films American comedy films Remakes of American films 1990s English-language films Films set in Boston Films set in New York City Films shot in Massachusetts Films shot in New York City Paramount Pictures films Films based on works by Neil Simon Films directed by Sam Weisman Films with screenplays by Marc Lawrence Films produced by Robert Evans Films scored by Marc Shaiman 1990s American films