The Out of Towners [DVD]

Neil Simon's curious comedy The Out-of-Towners concerns a pair of non-New Yorkers (Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis) having a hellish visit to the Big Apple on the eve of a job interview for Lemmon's character. Made in 1970 and directed by Arthur (Love Story) Hiller, this hectic film almost seems ahead of its time when compared to more recent misery-piled-on-misery comedies such as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The couple in this film endure everything that can go wrong on a trip, including being forced to spend the night in a mugger-happy Central Park. The strange element in Simon's script, though, is that Lemmon's character is so unpleasant. A middle-class, uptight guy who can't believe that New Yorkers in the service profession don't perform their jobs slavishly, he's kind of a one-note joke that quickly wears thin. It was remade with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn in 1999. --Tom Keogh

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Arabic ( Subtitles ), Czech ( Subtitles ), Dutch ( Subtitles ), English ( Subtitles ), Finnish ( Subtitles ), French ( Subtitles ), German ( Subtitles ), Greek ( Subtitles ), Hebrew ( Subtitles ), Hungarian ( Subtitles ), Icelandic ( Subtitles ), Italian ( Subtitles ), Polish ( Subtitles ), Portuguese ( Subtitles ), Romanian ( Subtitles ), Serbian ( Subtitles ), Slovenian ( Subtitles ), Spanish ( Subtitles ), Turkish ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: George and Gwendolyn Kellerman, a couple from Twin Oaks, Ohio, takes an all expenses-paid trip to the 'Big Apple'- New York City for George's big meeting for a top business company. George has a special night planned for Gwen before the big meeting the next morning. It consist of a dinner-and-dessert for two, then dancing, and finally back to their luxurious hotel suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. It seems like the perfect getaway vacation...until it takes a turn for the worse. Bad things stars to arise: The plane is rerouted to Boston's Logan International Airport; They hop on a cattle-style crowded train to Grand Central, with extreme shortage of food; Upon arrival, the entire New York City Transit Authority, the local cab company, and the Sanitation Dept. are on strike; A heavy thunderstorm drenches George and Gwen; The hotel gave away their room; George and Gwen get mugged twice and kidnapped (in a NYPD squad car). It's then that George is not taking this lying down anymore and threatens to sue everybody that never gave them a chance. Someway, the 'Big Apple Pie' can taste very sour for the 'Ou...The Out of Towners ( The Out-of-Towners )