La ronde des cocus

"Town and Country" is a critically panned but mildly amusing flick which tells of the marital misadventures of two of middle aged couples (Hawn/Sanders, Keaton/Beatty) who split up over reasons of fidelity. The flick is top heavy with talent on the audience side of the lens with no evidence of same in screenplay and direction. Fraught with meandering repartee, comedic situation which come off like bad improv, a jerky flow, lack of cohesion, no center of gravity, etc. "T&C" isn't as awful as it is an underachiever. Okay for hard up sofa spuds.

Warren Beatty as a stumbling, bumbling, unfaithful husband--a well-to-do architect who can't even climb onto a roof without falling off. Married to fabric designer Diane Keaton for 25 years, Beatty has a fling with his best friend's soon-to-be ex-wife while carrying on a breezy affair with a pretty cellist. While on a fishing vacation with buddy Garry Shandling, he comes close to sleeping with two other eccentric females out for a good time. Though co-written by crack comedy vet Buck Henry, "Town & Country" is slow and stupid. The skittering sort of geniality which comes with watching an all-star cast in a big-budget production is enough to hold interest for awhile, but the characters don't take shape and the jokes never materialize. The sub-plot with flirtatious Andie MacDowell bringing Beatty home to meet her bombastic parents is bad enough to stop the picture dead in its tracks, and it really never recovers from this gaping pothole. Shandling does some nice underplaying, Goldie Hawn is attractive, and Beatty has one or two amusing moments of comic confusion. Otherwise, this troubled concoction sinks like a ship of fools. *1/2 from ****

Town And Country definitely isn't as bad as *some* people make out. The film isn't a masterpiece but it was good enough. I felt some bits dragged on a little but others were quite entertaining and there are a couple of funny moments too. The cast including: Warren Beatty, Garry Shandling, Charlton Heston, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and of course Josh Hartnett-The main reason, I actually went to see this film in the first place.are *really* good too. I give Town And Country a 6/10

Warren Beatty is one of those Hollywood icons that has had an inconsistant career. For every Bonnie and Clyde he has made, he has also made Ishtar (which I think is better than this movie). This movie is by far his worst. It feels like a desperate attempt by Beatty to make him feel young by having him sleep around with so many women. The whole cast feels lost in this movie. The characters are all unlikable, especially Beatty's. Why would I sit through a "comedy" where we don't want to be around these people? The usually charming Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton are rather shrill in this movie. I say read articles about this movie's troubled production. I think that story would be up there with the story of "Heaven's Gate," "Ishtar," "Bonfire of the Vanities," and "Waterworld" as the behind the scenes story is more interesting than the movie itself.

Town And Country is brim full of snobbery. Its about rich affluent couples making fools of themselves. Are the cast actually playing themselves in real life? Who knows, but that stands as probably the most damning element of this film. How many mansions could one have bought for what it cost to make this film? How many mouths could it have fed? Town And Country easily bought its own way into the Hollywood 'name and blame' game before it even reached the screens. I laughed a couple of times, I smiled whilst watching it, but only out of amusement at how much the film was lacking. Its a flat and hollow experience. The stars of course probably did their best but the whole enterprise was just too creaky and 'weird' to substantiate their efforts. It strived for outrageousness but attained stupidity. It strived for humble pathos but stayed in the shallows. Everything it grabbed for was lost for the mundanity - this film, whilst it did mildly entertain me for 100 minutes, alas made me feel and register nothing. It was just actors picking up a pay check and a few lovable antics. Whatever approbation I surrender here was surely only out of curiosity. The same goes for any renowned bad movies I seek out, that require viewing just to see just how bad. They can't all be masterworks you know.