The Out-of-Towners (1999 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section may contain original research or unattributed claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details.

The Out-of-Towners is a 1999 film starring Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin. It is a remake of a 1970 film by the same name. The original starred Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis.

There are subtle differences to 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 Cleese 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 talents 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 films laughs). Consequently, the 1999 film stands alone as a Hawn and Martin collaboration, rather than as a comparable remake of an already successful film.

The movie was a disappointment critically and commercially. It has a 22% rating on the Rotten Tomatoeswebsite [1], with Roger Ebert commenting that the movie "was not a proud moment in the often-inspired careers of Martin and Hawn."[2] Most of the negative reviews point to Cleese as the only redeeming factor of the film. The film had a budget of $75 million, but grossed just $29 million in the US, and $33 million worldwide [3]

[edit] External links

• The Out-of-Towners at the Internet Movie Database