L.A. Story

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L.A. Story

Directed by	Mick Jackson
Produced by	Mario Kassar Steve Martin Daniel Melnick Michael I. Rachmil
Written by	Steve Martin
Starring	Steve Martin Victoria Tennant Richard E. Grant Marilu Henner Sarah Jessica Parker
Music by	Peter Melnick
Cinematography	Andrew Dunn
Editing by	Richard A. Harris Greg Le Duc
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	February 8, 1991
Running time	95 mins
Country	USA
Language	English
IMDb profile

L.A. Story is a 1991 movie directed by Mick Jackson and written by Steve Martin. Set in Los Angeles, California, it tells the story of Harris K. Telemacher, an L.A. weatherman (played by Martin) who falls in and out of love with the aid of a talking freeway sign which arguably speaks for the city itself.

Tagline: Something funny is happening in L.A.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Steve Martin plays wacky weatherman Harris K. Telemacher, a news meteorologist living in Los Angeles. He has been in a meaningless relationship with his girlfiend Trudi, played by Marilu Henner, and wants to find some meaning and magic in his life. At a luncheon with a group of friends, he meets Sara McDowell, a journalist from London played by Victoria Tennant, whom he immediately falls in love with, but is afraid to ask out due to marriage. Driving home that night, his car breaks down on the freeway and he pulls over into the shoulder, only to realize that a freeway sign is talking to him. The sign starts to give him advice, including the fact that he should have asked for Sara's number. He takes the sign's advice and begins to fall for her, despite she feels she has a commitment to her ex-husband, Roland, played by Richard E. Grant. In the meantime, Harris decides to go out with the ditzy-blonde Sandee (spelled "SanDeE*"), a girl he met at a clothing store played by Sarah Jessica Parker. After the date with Sandee, Harris learns that his girlfriend has been cheating on him for three years with his agent, which sets Harris free, so he decides to pursue his love interest in Sara, with more help from the freeway sign.

[edit] Trivia

The Enya songs, "On Your Shore", "Exile" (both from Watermark) and "Epona" (from The Celts) were featured strongly in the film, and increased its emotional appeal. The French chanson "La Mer" by Charles Trenet, known in English as "Beyond the Sea", is also a repeated motif in the film, as is Do Wah Diddy Diddy (written by The Exciters, but best known by Manfred Mann).

The choice of character names and various plot elements indicate that this is a retelling of sections of The Odyssey, with elements of James Joyce's Ulysses. Telemachus is Ulysses' son.

The movie also has references to William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and occasionally his Hamlet.

John Lithgow was originally in the film, but almost all of his performance was removed during editing. Only one scene with Lithgow remains; he is the man Harris sees talking to the freeway sign near the beginning of the film. His character's name, Harry Zell, is also mentioned in the film. In 1992, Lithgow hosted a featurette on Showtime where he presented his deleted scenes from the film.

Scott Bakula's scenes from the film were also removed during editing. He was to play Harris' neighbor, who was a boxer.

The French restaurant featured in the film, L'Idiot, is French for "the idiot."

The license plate on Harris' car which read "2GAT123" was also featured in films Traffic, Pay It Forward, Mulholland Drive, and Crazy/Beautiful.

The poem that Harris reads to Sara ("O pointy birds, o pointy pointy...") is a reference to The Man with Two Brains, a previous film written by Steve Martin.

Time-lapse footage of the highway and street scenes were taken from the film Koyaanisqatsi.

The film features cameos by Chevy Chase (Carlo Christopher, guest at L'Idiot), Woody Harrelson (boss at TV station), Rick Moranis (gravedigger), Terry Jones (voice of Sara's mother), and Paula Abdul (roller skater in front of Tail O' the Pup).