The Out of Towners

I didn't appreciate this film until I saw the updated version. This film starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as Ohio visitors to New York City. The trip is nearly disastrous from the moment that they get off the airplane. Of course, this film is one of Neil Simon's better works. The couple lose their luggage, get robbed, and don't have a clue about the way that the city works. George is here for a job interview and has high hopes of moving to the city with his wife, kids, and dogs. He has a romanticized notion of New York City that he sees in the films and television shows. Being there is different from just the movies, I think the ending speaks for itself. New York City is not for everyone but it's how they came to the realization of how tough it is to be New Yorker and even the ending is something that could have generated a sequel.

The real fascinating thing about cinema,is that no matter how many movies you might have seen,there are always going to be films that you have missed and are great ,to say the least.This is the case with the "Out of Towners". I saw a few years ago the remake with Steve Martin and as a big fan of Steve's i liked the film.Actually i didn't know back then ,that there was an original with Jack Lemmon.Anyway i have bought the DVD and just put it in a box to watch it sometime. I never thought, that this was an absolutely hilarious comedy ,with Jack Lemmon, for me ,being even better than "the odd couple". His character is similar to the one he played alongside Matthau ,but we are talking about an amazing performance here.I'm really surprised that he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar(he was nominated though for a Golden Globe). A couple (Sandy Dennis plays the wife)starts a journey to N.Y ,because Lemmon has planned an interview for his new job.He has a strict schedule that includes dinner at the "4 Seasons" restaurant and spending the night with his wife at his luxury hotel. I really can't describe what's happening after the boarding on the plane.EVERYTHING THAT COULD GO WRONG WENT WRONG. But the real magic of the film is that at no point in the film ,you can accuse the writers that they overdid it with the story.And Lemmon has a big part to do with that, because he plays amazingly. Sandy Dennis also plays her part extremely well and has a fine chemistry with Lemmon. A classic in my collection ,with out a doubt in the top-5 of all the comedies i have ever watched. Watch it and enjoy yourselves.

I've been reading some of the comments for this film, and I can't understand those who don't find it funny. Apparently they've never traveled or have never experienced a modicom of mess while traveling (and I LOVE to travel), or, have simply never had a really bad 48 hours, doing whatever! Lemmon's shear repetition of wanting to get everyone's phone number and address is hysterical, because through his fatigue in trying to cope with one problem after another in The Big Apple, he still finds the strength to take down everyone's name and number, and promises to retaliate at a later point in time. Sandy Dennis is a perfect, calm, albeit understandably very fatigued, foil for Lemmon's frustrated and hyper New Yorker-wannabe. For me, she's always a gem to watch.

The scene in which Lemmon loses a tooth, followed by losing his hearing, followed by the ability to hear only every other word spoken, is quietly hysterical. Also very funny is his scene in the park "talking" to a little boy....that's all I'll say about that one. Overall, if you're in the mood for observing high-speed neurosis, played to comedic perfection by the inimitable Jack Lemmon, watch this film, and enjoy.

Hilarious Neil Simon comedy, that is, if you can tune into 80-minutes of what-else-can-go-wrong laughs. Seems upscale Lemmon and wife Dennis have to get from Ohio to NYC to accept his big time new job. Okay, no problem; except, the flight is detoured to Boston; there's a wrong train to NY; they're mugged in the city; then there's no room at their hotel, and a rain half-drowns them, etc., etc., etc. Like a string of slippery pearls, it's one adversity after another, and a real tribute to both performers that the frustrations are made amusing rather than off-putting. One thing for sure-- the flick's no valentine to NYC.

Happily, no one could do jangled nerves better than the comedic Lemmon, while Dennis offers perfectly measured support. Together, they bring off the challenge with artful flair. The rest of the cast appear only momentarily as our benighted twosome move from one frustration to the next. In many years of movie viewing, I've seen nothing like this daring storyline. All in all, it's tricky material done slickly and to the proverbial T. Meanwhile, I won't be going to NY any time soon, and if I do, I'll take a fat paper pad for all the names I'll have to sue to get there. Many thanks, Jack and Sandy.

Now that I'm retired I do a bit of traveling now and I make itineraries that I like to stick to. What happens to Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis is every traveler's nightmare in between all the laughs.

Starting with the circling around the airport, I remember once circling an hour and a half at Newark Airport because flights were backed up and that's after an hour delay from Rochester. That was 20 years ago and I haven't had anything like that happen to me recently. It can be incredibly nerve wracking and I well sympathize with what was happening.

That would normally be enough. But Mr.&Mrs. Kellerman go exponential Murphy on this trip. Everything that can go wrong does, every single solitary thing from lost luggage to canceled hotel reservations to spending a night on the ground at Central Park and plenty more besides. All this on a nice dreamed of vacation in New York for this middle America Ohio couple who are combining business and pleasure as Lemmon is also in town for a job interview.

Jack Lemmon is a perfect fit for his American everyman character and Sandy Dennis provides an interesting brand of quirkiness as the wife. Although there are some talented players in the cast including a rising Billy Dee Williams in the role of a ticket agent, they're fairly one dimensional as the film for about 90% of the time focuses on Lemmon and Dennis and their travails in the Big Apple.

Do they get out of all their woes. Well I can say is, think about that musical number that Bing Crosby and Olga San Juan did in Blue Skies.