BEFORE: The "Hawn-a-thon" rolls on - don't worry, I'm not going to watch "Overboard".
If I've got any scheduling regret, it has to do with the fact that the new "Captain America" film opens tomorrow, and I failed to take that into consideration. For that matter, the new "X-Men" film is coming up in May, when I'll be deep into the Hitchcock chain. But, since I never got around to seeing "Thor: The Dark World", maybe I'll have to catch up on all three before Comic-Con in July. I certainly don't want a repeat of my "Iron Man 3" experience, alone late at night in Chula Vista.
THE PLOT: The adventures of a couple, Henry and Nancy Clark, vexed by misfortune while in New York City for a job interview.
AFTER: I get a little defensive about my adopted city, New York. The city so nice that...well, OK, sometimes it's not so nice but it took me in, once upon a time, and continues to support me. It gives me everything I need, and all it asks in return is that I act responsibly when crossing the street, and that I don't make any sudden moves...
But Hollywood persists in poking fun at it, in films like "Date Night", "The Sitter", this one, and so on. The city is transformed into a confusing jumble of high-society events and criminal hijinks, which lead to (fictional) marathon crazy nights where everything can happen, and does, laws are broken, people end up in jail, and yet in the morning everything's somehow back to normal and we get ready for the next crazy night.
I'll start with what the film gets right - non-New Yorkers tend to stand out in this city. I saw a woman on the subway this week, who was CLEARLY from out of town. She started talking to other subway riders, asking which stations she could transfer to the local train by just going across the platform, since she was already late for her new job, and if it's called the express train, then why is it moving so slowly? For chrissakes, lady, just sitdown and shaddup! If you need directions, by all means ask, but after that, our business is concluded - so Good Day! This relates to the film's "mugger" scene, where the lead characters from Ohio strike up a friendly conversation with the man on the street asking for change. First mistake - don't make eye contact. 2nd mistake - don't give anyone money. 3rd mistake - don't say anything, except maybe "Sorry..."
Also right: casting John Cleese. Cleese practically perfected the "uptight hotel manager capable of having a meltdown" role in his series "Fawlty Towers", and if you haven't seen those amazing 13 gems of episodes, please go do so now, I'll wait. And he can go from arrogant prick to overly apologetic toady quite quickly, which is exactly what the movie required of him. If you can get Cleese in your film and convince him to do a funny dance or a silly walk, that's money in the bank.
Now, on with the NITPICK POINTS #1: The distance from Ohio to New York is quite driveable - my ex was from Cleveland, and I made that trip many times. If I had 24 hours to get across PA and NJ, I don't think I'd take a plane. Now, the couple here has a son at Ohio State, so perhaps they live in Columbus and not Cleveland, but that's still just a 9-hour drive. I could more likely believe that they'd drive to NYC to visit their daughter, rather than the excuse given in the film, which is:
NITPICK POINT #2: Would a NYC ad agency hire a guy from OH as a creative director? Anything possible, I see ad agency people move across the country all the time, but this is for a NYC tourism campaign. As the film itself correctly states, they'd be much more likely to hire a CD from another agency in NY, or at least from another big city, assuming the guy has tourism in his portfolio.
NITPICK POINT #3: This city practically wrote the book on acceptance and counter-culture. Minority rights, gay rights, homeless person rights - and now we put up with hipsters. Unless the hotel manager is a serial killer, there are very few lifestyles that people in this city would feel the need to hide. It's a great sight gag to see Cleese expressing his inner diva, but I would think that by now dressing in drag has lost its stigma.
Plus, you can't say that New Yorkers are too open about their lifestyles (the sex-addiction therapy session) AND say that we're too closeted in the same movie. Maybe I'll let this one slide, since the hotel manager was British, and they're all way too uptight, right?
The ending feels tacked on - when Henry Clark admits defeat and declares that "New York won", I thought, there's your campaign slogan, "New York #1". But they went a different way with it, the angle he lands on at the last second ties things up just a little too neatly, saving his job, marriage and lifestyle at the same time.
Also starring Steve Martin (last seen in "Pennies From Heaven"), John Cleese, Mark McKinney (last seen in "A Night at the Roxbury"), Oliver Hudson, with cameos from Cynthia Nixon, Josh Mostel (last seen in "Searching for Bobby Fischer"), Mo Gaffney, Ernie Sabella, Jack McGee (last seen in "New Year's Eve"), and Rudy Giuliani.
RATING: 4 out of 10 traveler's checks (whatever happened to them?)
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