L.A. Story (1991)

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

94 % on Rotten Tomatoes? Full four stars from Roger Ebert? What am I missing here? What am I not seeing that makes this such a beloved Los Angeles experience for everyone else? Because, frankly, I thought this to be one of the most boring movies I've ever seen.Where to start. Steve Martin is not funny in this one. I get that they tried to go for a more surreal tone, and to convey his love for the city, instead of just making a straight up slapstick comedy. But I can still see that it was meant to be at least partially comedic. The only problem being that I didn't even smile, not once. Every single joke at the expense of the typical Los Angeles stereotypes I had already seen, numerous times, over and over again. The dialogues were obviously meant to sound forced and shallow in order to make us laugh, but to me they come across only as painful.The story was riddled with clichés, obvious stereotypes, age old situations and just straight corniness. And even the surreal elements didn't make it any less boring, because they didn't connect with anything. A billboard? What is that even meant to represent? Our dependence on advertising? The only saving grace was the fact that Sarah Jessica Parker's character was at least perky and cute to watch. And that's it.Perhaps it's the fact that I've never been to Los Angeles, or even USA, for that matter. Perhaps I'm just incapable of getting it. Nevertheless, this was an awful experience for me and I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone.

In Los Angeles, the meteorologist Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) is the wacky weatherman of television news. He has a wasted relationship with his obnoxious girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner) and he feel that he lives a boring life.When Harris meets the Londoner journalist Sara McDowell (Victoria Tennant), who has come to LA to write en article for the London Times, in a brunch party with her ex-husband Roland Mackey (Richard E. Grant) and other friends, he believes that she is the woman of his life. Harris does not know how to seduce her and he discovers that Trudi has been cheating him with his agent for three years. Then Harry dates the younger aspirant spokesmodel SanDeE* (Sarah Jessica Parker) because he believes that Sara is interested in her ex-husband. However a freeway signpost helps Harry to woo Sara."L.A. Story" is a romantic comedy that is still delightful and witty after so many years from the release. The chemistry between Steve Martin and his wife is perfect and there are hilarious dialogs and situations, like for example, when Harris tells Sara that he would like to take her on a cultural tour of L.A., and Sara replies that this would be the first fifteen minutes. Or when he tells to SanDeE* that her breasts are weird and she answers that it is because they are real. Or when SanDeE* and Roland fantasize with Mel Gibson. In addition, there are cameos of many actors and famous people. The music score by Enya is awesome and fits perfectly to the conclusion. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "L.A. Story"

The way this movie is put together, with all the little things ( like he drives to work in that Chrysler with the Garfield doll on the rear window? Or the famous one liners? If I was a woman, I would stay home and play with my brests all day! Hilarious! I still use it to date.The music of Enya makes the romance complete. At the end, that song gives me goose bumps...I think this is the best one Steve has ever made.I wish I could tell it to him some day.There is just something about this movie that you just can not grasp.......it's sheer magic!

Has anyone else been reminded of Woody Allen's Manhattan?-- a homage to a city,framed in a very personal way,reflecting the main man's personality. Angst-ridden male lead with all-knowing female leads,reliance on music,male confusion--even art galleries!Comparing the 2,I found 'LA'a slow grower,whereas I was overwhelmed by 'Manhattan'immediately. If you can compare the 2,I think I prefer LA. I can imagine that Steve Martin fans maybe being disappointed by the lack of slapstick & Woody Allen fans being totally dismissive. The failure of 'LA' must have been a major body blow to Steve,as soon after,his marriage to Victoria Tennant failed.