Look at the pedigree behind this film. It's based on a play by Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), it was written by Marc Lawrence (Music and Lyrics) and stars Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. It should have been a huge hit.In fact it's a lousy film. Thin characters doing clearly irrational things. Martin brings likability to every role he plays, but here he's floundering. Goldie Hawn acts as his straight man well, but she's underused.And then along comes John Cleese. Now, I don't find him that funny at the best of times, but when he's clearly playing another Basil Fawlty type role it's even worse.A poor film.

The Out-of-Towners (1999): Dir: Sam Weisman / Cast: Steve Martin, Goldie Hawn, John Cleese, Mark McKinney, Oliver Hudson: Remake of the 1970 comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. It is about new territory and experiences starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn as a married couple. Martin is fired from his job but wishes not to alarm Hawn so he doesn't inform her that his travel to New York is for a job interview. They are bombarded with a series of incidences that mean little to the story. They lose their luggage, get mugged, get arrested, scale hotel walls, etc. Directed by Sam Weisman who previously made the dreadful George of the Jungle and this is not much of an improvement. Martin and Hawn shared great comedic chemistry in Housesitter but here their roles are props for bad writing. John Cleese appears as a snobbish desk clerk in what appears to be a tribute to his Fawlty Towers role. Nobody else can elevate this farce above the gutter area either. The original film regarded the reality of unfamiliarity to surroundings and culture. This remake merely takes gifted comedians and sends them through endless situations that we have seen countless times. What a waste of talent. For a superior vacation check out National Lampoon's Vacation and its worthwhile sequels. This is empty entertainment opting to replace any message with stupidity. Score: 3 / 10

I think I am done with reviewing after this one, or even discussing garbage like this. I would rather just spend my energy talking about the good. This could be the worst thing that ever was made, and I don't just mean movies, I'm suggesting the worst of ANY item ever put together by human beings on this Earth. I would expect Goldie Hawn to be a part of this....garbage (and I am being nice) but Steve Martin, well, he HAS done some crap, but he should be so ashamed of himself that he never tries to "act" in another movie. There should be a movement, lead by people who know what the original was, to have this...thing... stricken from the archives of film, to be removed and all remnants of it eliminated, so as to not be associated in any way, shape or form, to this...thing. After reading the good reviews on this? I am so embarrassed to actually have a membership card to the human race. Wow. Wow. Again.....Wow.

Goldie Hawn is a wonderful comedy actress; Steve Martin is a wonderful comedy actor; Neil Simon is a wonderful comedy writer; and New York City is a wonderful place to use as a setting for a movie. Yet, this movie is a clunker; it's as flat as a pancake, and an overcooked one at that. Although certain scenes do provoke a laugh, in general this movie simply is not funny. The story is a pure Hollywood comedy potboiler, that is, a formula movie and a poor retread of the 1970 original, which itself wasn't the funniest movie either, but that's for another review. The idea of everything going wrong during a trip is nothing new, but if properly treated it can produce laughs. But in this movie the things that go wrong are so absurd and contrived that the laughs are lost. What happens to the Clarks would not and could not happen to anyone else, hence the movie becomes irrelevant to the audience and loses its meaning as a satire or parody. John Cleese provides some humor as the hotel manager but his presence is limited and in no way comes close to rescuing this movie from its essential banality.