Review of L.A. Story (1991) by Lyndon G — 23 Jan 2010

This is quite a stinker. I sat through the whole thing, but I'm not sure why, and it left me curiously in need of a shower. Unless you're looking for something bad, a quaintly grisly display of what happens when things don't (quite) come together, you might hate me for recommending this.

It has some unusual "flourishes": the romantic female lead is pushing old age, the story is directed by a talking highway sign, a younger love interest is perpetually spinning and bouncing and likes to take dates for high colonics while her less intelligent boyfriend sulks at his night club.

Patrick Stewart appears as a snobby French restaurant owner with a deplorable accent. The real world is neatly sidelined by the fact that nothing is believable at all, and in peculiar reference to the digestive origin of the word ahead, everything is a gag.

There's so much NOT going for this movie that I wasn't very bored, but it is an embarrassing piece of cinema. It is a farce with weak laughs and one or two good ones. It rips off Annie Hall and has a few lyrical moments, but these events do not coincide, and the better flashes set the rest of the movie in dim relief.

I would say even if you loved Bowfinger, which I did, you'll be in for a surprise if you expect quality, polish, or competence. However, if you like Bowfinger or Steve Martin or goofy and ineffectual comedy that has aged poorly, you might get something out of this.

I did--with the bitter aftertaste of a stale coffee.