L.A. STORY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
L.A. STORY (1991), a beautiful parody and homage written by and starring Steve Martin, opens to a carefully choreographed water ballet of lawn sprinklers.
As L.A. wakes for another morning of glorious California sun, the image is subtitled "Los Angeles, California, Temperature 72 degrees." We see Los Angelenos going about their morning routines, switching from one sleepy guy in shorts busily dragging his Christmas tree to the curb to a suit who chats away on his cell phone as the stretched limo he is riding in is being towed.
"I live in Los Angeles, and I've had 7 heart attacks -- all imagined," explains meteorologist Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin). "That is to say, I was deeply unhappy, but I didn't know it because I was happy all the time."
"When the weather dropped to 58 degrees this weekend, how did you cope?" asks Harris in a man-on-the-street interview. As a wacky television weatherman, he fits right in with the area's "culture." Even so, he is almost fired by the show's producer, played devilishly by a candy sucking and Hawaiian shirt wearing Woody Harrelson, when the producer claims Harris was doing some intellectual thing during another of his slapstickish weather reports.
In a film so rich that it would take at least three viewings to sift through all of the humor and subtleties, the show's subtext is highly romantic and poignant. The humor is presented with such delicious seriousness that it becomes almost an anthropological exploration of West Coast tribes. ("Hi, my name is Bob," chirps Dennis Dragon as a saccharinely polite thief. "I'll be your robber.") The resulting film by director Mick Jackson is so funny that I could not control myself at times -- one belly laugh would not subside before another began.
In a completely plastic city, where Harris drives a hundred yards to his next door neighbor's house, he meets his would-be wife, Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant), who has just arrived from her home in London. She shocks the locals by saying exactly what is on her mind.
When not attempting to date someone his own age, Harris goes out with Sandy, who, after all, is just "4 years shy of 27." Although the credits list her as "Sandy," she carefully writes her name for Harris as "SanDeE" with a star at the end and a heart encasing the name. Sarah Jessica Parker, who has been too often miscast as she was in THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE, plays free spirit SanDeE with perfection. The woman is incapable of standing still and constantly dances and twirls, while throwing her long, curly hair about. Having not a care in the world and not burdened with excessive brain power, she lives an experiential lifestyle.
An electronic highway sign plays perhaps the sweetest, and certainly the most unusual character in the story. The sign gives Harris prescient advice and even speaks in riddles -- unscramble "How Daddy is Doing," commands the sign.
The show is full of well chosen cameos by known actors playing against type. Rick Moranis, in a Hamlet take-off, appears as a gravedigger with a thick English accent. Best is Patrick Stewart as the maitre d' of a restaurant so exclusive that Harris has to accompany him to the maitre d's bank (Fourth Reich of Hamburg) to review Harris's financial statement before he can get a reservation. And since his is deemed deficient in several areas, he can order only a limited number of items on the menu, and certainly not the duck.
Thanks to the sparkling and romantic cinematography by Andrew Dunn, the picture has a magical sense of wonderment about life. Amidst all the humor is a sensitive story about a man in search of meaning for his life. And in a quest for love. ("Forget for this moment the smog and the cars and the restaurant and the skating and remember only this. A kiss may not be the truth, but it is what we wish were true.")
"Wow, that was something!" says Harris as the show draws to its delightful conclusion. "That was really something!" As my newfound friends faded away, I thought, "My sentiments exactly!"
L.A. STORY runs a fast 1:35. It is rated PG-13 for very brief nudity and a little profanity. The show has so much mature humor that I think kids would need to be nine or ten to appreciate it. I strongly recommend this gem to you and give it *** 1/2.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: July 5, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews