L.A. Story

When Steve Martin is hot, he's really hot. L.A. Story, written by Steve Martin, is hot. The entire film keeps you in a state of constant chuckling. And, the movie has more than a few moments of comedic genius. It's the cumulative effect of little jokes littered throughout the film, both verbal and visual, that keeps you in stitches. On top of that, it piques your interest.

Here's what I mean: while Martin mercilessly it pokes fun of L.A. for it's flakiness, it's love and tolerance of idiosyncrasies, it's constant preoccupation with image, it's narcissism, the humor is never vulgar, crass, or shallow. For example, one scene takes place in the municipal art museum. We see Harry Telemacher (Steve Martin), with his friends, rapt in admiration for a painting. The camera angle comes from the canvas itself, where we watch Harry, deep in thought, dissertate on the subjects in the portrait, their motives, actions, and hidden agendas. He moves forward, backward, forward again, as if in active dialogue with the lacquer. At last, moving backward, he concludes his remarks by wrinkling his nose in disgust and saying `Look at the way he's holding her: it's almost filthy!' And then the camera moves around to Telemacher's perspective. The painting's a total abstraction. There isn't a distinct line in the entire rectangular frame. In the argot of Postmodernism, one might call it a `readerly' work of art.

It's the perfect metaphor for L.A., where you may interpret anything, any way you like. There's no standard, except one's own `personal reality.' No one can use social norms as a personal club to tell someone else, `You're wrong,' because there is none. It's all `what-E-verrrr.'

Best of all, L.A. Story is a love story, the kind of love that adores someone as much for their faults as for their virtues. Martin's satire is so effective because he loves the city so much.

Okay, I was raised in the LA area, so I appreciate "LA Story" more than many might, but it's still just an incredibly wonderful romantic comedy regardless of where you grew up. The script is fabulous, and the soundtrack featuring the music of Enya is the perfect counterpoint to this wonderfully wicked lampoon of Southern California culture.

The humor is much more intelligent than early Steve Martin features such as "The Jerk", but it isn't snobbish. It has wit, charm, and pure satirical funniness. Whether it's watching Martin roller-skate through a museum of Old Masters, seeing a restaurant full of jaded Californians casually ride out a minor earthquake as their tables gracefully vibrate across the room, or the absurdity of a freeway sign giving out cryptic personal messages that change the course of the principal character's lives, the movie simply works.

Steve Martin is at his best here, equal to his wonderful performance in "Roxanne". Victoria Tennant is the perfect choice as the off-beat, tuba-playing British journalist Martin's character falls for. Sarah Jessica Parker is absolutely priceless as SanDeE* (that's her spelling, not a typo), the young would-be spokesmodel/bimbette who "likes to point". Even Rick Moranis as the comedic Cockney grave digger is wonderful, despite his having one of the least believable accents since Dick van Dyck as the chimneysweep Bert in "Mary Poppins". Forget the comment about Moranis' accent... you'll enjoy him anyway.

Overall, this is one of my two favorite movies of all time, and considering how many I've enjoyed, that's saying volumes.

Steve Martin plays Harris K. Telemacher, a funny weatherman who's in a relationship with Trudi (Marilu Henner) but falls for a British journalist Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant).He also meets an energetic young woman SanDeE (Sarah Jessica Parker) on the way.He gets some important messages from a freeway sign like that the weather will change his life in two ways.L.A. Story (1991) is a great romantic fantasy comedy from Mick Jackson.It's written by Steve Martin, who also gives an amazing performance in the lead.This 59 year old comedian has made us laughed in many hilarious movies in the past.Hopefully he still will do so in the future.Let's see how he can fill the shoes of Peter Sellers in the upcoming Pink Panther movie.Other actors do a great job as well.Sarah Jessica Parker can be seen there before she was a huge star.This year she stopped working in Sex and the City after six years.You can also see, more or less, people like Richard E. Grant, Iman, Rick Moranis, Chevy Chase, Kevin Pollak, Patrick Stewart and Woody Harrelson.L.A. Story is a declaration of love to Los Angeles like Woody Allen has made many to New York.This movie is full of extremely funny scenes.I found myself laughing many times watching this movie.Isn't that what makes a good comedy?

Quite similar to Woody Allen's Manhattan, and not quite as good, but pretty close to it. Steve Martin stands for comedy, and this movie is filled with jokes; some very funny others pretty stupid. What I like the most with this film is the acting of Sarah Jessica Parker; she is SO great. Overall, highly watchable.

7 or 8 out of 10.

Several years back, when I first sat down to watch "L.A. Story", my in-laws remarked that I was fortunate to be seeing this while living in that particular region (the jokes would make more sense). And they were spot-on. All of the movie's funniest gags are L.A. in-jokes (they're just surreal to outsiders): the angst-ridden 4-way stop, the smog, shrugging off earthquakes, the vapid lifestyles - these help the otherwise absurd freeway shootout and socially acceptable muggings work as comedy.

The movie functions pretty well as a romantic comedy/fantasy between Steve Martin and Vitoria Tennant, but it works a lot better when Martin see free-spirited (and charming as all get out) Sarah Jessica Parker).

But it works best as Martin's snide valentine to the culture.

7/10