The Out-of-Towners | |
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Directed by | Sam Weisman |
Produced by |
Robert Evans Robert Cort David Madden Teri Schwartz |
Written by | Marc Lawrence |
Starring |
Steve Martin Goldie Hawn John Cleese |
Music by | Marc Shaiman |
Cinematography | John Bailey |
Edited by | Kent Beyda |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $75 million |
Box office | $28,544,120 (USA) |
The Out-of-Towners is a 1999 American comedy 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.
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. Unbeknownst to her, Henry has lost his job due to corporate downsizing and has an interview in New York. Nancy 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 (John Cleese) who also indulges in cross dressing. Forced to live by their wits on the street, the couple find themselves caught up in a robbery, chased by the police through Central Park and also finding renewed love between them. In the end, Henry aces his job interview and the two begin a new life together in "The Big Apple".
The movie was a disappointment critically and commercially. It has a 23% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes 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.