The Out-of-Towners

1999 Comedy

When Frank Sinatra sang "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, it's up to you, New York!" he probably didn't have the same odds in mind that line up against Henry and Nancy Clark in The Out-Of-Towners. Henry (Steve Martin) is an advertising man from Ohio who runs his life on an exacting schedule. His wife Nancy (Goldie Hawn) feels the spark has gone out of their lives together. After 24 years of marriage, their children are grown and nothing is tying them to their old home, so they decide to take a stab at relocating to New York City. Henry arranges a job interview in the Big Apple, they schedule a flight into Manhattan, and from that point on, anything that can go wrong does go wrong. Henry and Nancy's flight is delayed, their luggage is lost, their hotel reservations are cancelled, they're accosted by muggers, the cab they're riding in gets in a wreck, Henry is accidentally drugged and Nancy ends up in a group therapy meeting for sex addicts. The Out-Of-Towners is an updated remake of the 1970 comedy scripted by Neil Simon; the original version starred Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as the hapless Midwesterners. more..

Director: Sam Weisman

Starring: Steve Martin, Goldie Hawn, John Cleese, Mark McKinney, Oliver Hudson

Reviews

  • The movie is a mess of bits and pieces that try to gel but don't. Still, it is stupidly fun.

    Peter Stack - The San Francisco Chronicle

    27 May 2013

  • The only possible reasons to do this concept again is sheer laziness (it's easier to borrow an idea) and pure greed (it's cheaper to borrow an idea).

    Susan Wloszczyna - USA Today

    27 May 2013

  • Ragged as some of it might have been, that old "Out-of-Towners" had a unified and surprisingly dark comic vision to go with its nifty one-liners. This big, glossy picture is set in movie-movie land, that shiny, peachy place where a celebrity -- like Mayor Rudy -- waits around every corner.

    Michael Wilmington - The Chicago Tribune

    27 May 2013

  • Don't hate yourself for chuckling at this sweetly anachronistic update of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy.

    - Entertainment Weekly

    27 May 2013

  • Jogs doggedly on the treadmill of comedy, working up a sweat but not getting much of anywhere.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    27 May 2013

Awards

  • Film - International

    Bambi Awards (1999)