The Out-of-Towners (1970)

Expected more

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Will it matter to know that the director of ''The Out-of-Towners'' is Arthur Hiller, the same who made the highest-grossing movie of the same year ''Love Story'' ? Probably not. Or maybe a little, as there are some touching expressions marital love and understanding (or at least pretensions) between the husband George, played by Jack Lemmon and his wife Glen Kellerman, played by Sandy Dennis. There is also a sort of hidden message lying underneath this series of incredible misadventures that directly puts in equation the kind of life suburbans like George and Gwen wish to commit themselves to, even if it costs George a position as Vice President of Sales in New York City. Literally, the couple will choke on the Big Apple, but maybe for their own good.George Kellerman is appointed for a job interview at 9 am, a formality as he thinks he's is in a shoo-in for the job, the airplane will arrive at night, before 8 pm so he'll have the time to a fancy dinner with Gwen at the Four Seasons restaurant and then a romantic night in the Waldorf Astoria hotel, everything is planned. But there's a way why Arabs say « If God wills » because naturally, nothing goes as planned. As soon as the plane starts circling around for hours and hours swallowing in the process the Four Seasons dinner, and when it lands to Boston while the luggage with George's medics for ulcer are you know that the film will follow a simple pattern : « whatever can go wrong, will go wrong » you've heard it before, Murphy's law, a feeling of deja vu from a movie you probably watched before that one ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'', and indeed, the couple is never short of bad luck, one that get to the smallest detail. After George and Gwen wait for two hours to get at the train restaurant, only bread and olives are left, talk about a stretch from the restaurant dinner and even the airplane meal George didn't let his wife had because he still thought he could make it in the Four Seasons.You can't even label the couple as unlucky for they have that subtle thing we call in my family 'luck in bad luck'. If anything had made him miss the train from Boston, the interview would've been canceled, but they get enough luck to keep moving toward their Holy Grail, just sleeping in the hotel. And the taxi strike didn't make it easier, nor the fact that George forgot to confirm the hotel booking. The power of the film is to avoid a feeling of repetitiveness by toying with the funniest bureaucratic procedures related to transportations and make them the source of excitement in a sort of « what next ? » anticipation.It feels like a gimmicky movie, but this is a script written by Neil Simon, who made some of the funniest movies from simple situations, ''The Odd Couple'' was one of them. And of course, the performances of Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis elevate the film to another level, because they're not just a couple, but they work like a Laurel and Hardy pair, he's the maniac husband who's trying to prove his wife that he means business and ask every uncooperative worker for his address and name, while she sort of plays it like her mousy Oscar-winning character in « Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf » a devoted wife whose only satisfaction comes from her husband's but whose patience isn't unlimited. We also wait for the moment she won't stand it anymore because that will mean they're in serious trouble and George will finally read the hidden message.Indeed, something progressively evolves as George get less and less confident and Gwen more and more tired of all these tiresome manifestations of hard luck. The evolution reaches its paroxysm during a beautiful climax where George who finally got the job announces it to Gwen, and she finally lets the most beautiful part of her personality bloom in a tender and serious moment where she questions her husband's decision. Why not taking a lesson from this hard day in New York and get back to their quiet town in Ohio. The look on Jack Lemmon's face is of a hypnotic fascination that foresees more dramatic roles to come, you can tell he loves his wife and knows she's her love life from what she says. And I loved that very scene because it touched a sensitive chord. Lately, I had to go back to Paris for a job interview, I took the train, the subway, went through the crowded streets, the same places I spent almost a third of my life in. And for some reason, I started asking myself if I really wanted to get back to that again, if it was worth it.Is it worth it? That's the question the film asks, the tone is comical and lighthearted but never underestimate a movie written by Neil Simon, played by the late Lemmon and Dennis, and also by ''Love Story'' director, behind the laughs, it provides many touching moments and powerful insights about commitment whether professional or marital, but it doesn't forget to bring you a little twist at the end. A cocktail of gags and sweetness to savor without moderation !

Jack Lemmon rescues this good comedy which shoulda been great > there are as many believable and funny scenes as there are unbelievable and just plain dumb scenes which should have hit the cutting room floor.as a NJ-NYer from 1951 to 2009, I loved the location shots of New York in 1970 and the Director and EDitor know just how much time to spend on these classic backdrops.of course, movie comedy is about exaggeration and we can go down of a list of "in reality, they could have easily....". but it's Neil Simon, probably the first American playwright who writes mostly based upon his own New York experiences and knows how to tickle the funnybone especially, of middle class easterners, earnest but constantly being kicked around; not as street savvy as they think they are.I wrote above that Lemmon saves the project, as professional as it is, because, frankly, Sandy Dennis is uncharacteristically awful. And it's not her fault, I surmise > seems the Director does not know if she should just use her beautiful "English accent", throughout, or mix in some real Brooklynese. On the other hand, perhaps his concept of Mrs. Kellerman, is a kind of naïve, flaky kid, like Edith Bunker > always adoring - restrained but still capable of breaking out in a lecture, if needed.another reason I chose a "6" rating is in the terrible denouement and finale scene. to use a contemporary expression to describe an old movie directorial/literary choice, "what were they thinking?".good to see Meara and Billy Dee Williams, in early roles. (and all those 8 cylinder sedans!).

Jack Lemmon & Sandy Dennis play George & Gwen Kellerman, who leave their Ohio hometown when George gets a big job interview in New York City. Unfortunately, their plane is delayed, resulting in them being late for their carefully scheduled dinner. Rather than be put up in the hotel paid for by the apologetic airline, the Kellermans decide to strike out on their own, resulting in an ever escalating series of disasters that make this the trip from hell! Though undeniably well-acted and even funny, this comedy from Neil Simon just goes too far into darkness, piling on calamity after calamity until viewer reaches the breaking point....not to mention that the stubborn Kellermans brought the whole thing on themselves, though one can't help feel sympathy for them regardless.Harrowing humor that doesn't know when to quit!

Criticized by some for being too critical of 1969 NYC, THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS is so flat out hilarious, it's impossible to not recommend it. One cringes with fright just thinking of what predicament visiting business exec Jack Lemmon will get himself and wife Sandy Dennis into. Re-routed by air to Boston, Lemmon & Dennis arrive via an abominably crowded train to a dismal NYC after midnight. Unable to find lodging (Lemmon didn't call ahead to inform the hotel he'd be arriving late...he was too busy "circling" New York before heading to Boston), the couple hit the streets --- hard. Ripped off by con man Graham Jarvis, caught up in a protest alongside Cuban consul Carlos Montalbán and deafened by an exploding manhole cover are just a few of the calamities these two endure. Lemmon is hysterical being hysterical, though claiming to be calm at all times. Dennis is infinitely patient, well matched with Lemmon as they try desperately to make it through a single night. Neil Simon's acidic script foreshadows his later PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE. Arthur Hiller adds another comedy classic to his resume and the supporting cast is littered by a bunch of great New York character actors: Anne Meara; Ron Carey; Dolph Sweet; Richard Libertini. Anthony Holland is perfect as a hotel desk who, though appearing sympathetic, makes it clear that he could care less.