Whenever
I imagine what Los Angeles might be like I picture Steve Martin’s version of it
in L.A. Story (1991), much like how I
used to imagine New York City being like Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1979) before I actually went there. Obviously, the
version of L.A. presented in Martin’s film is a romanticized and stylized take
but he certainly seemed to capture the spirit of a certain social strata
(white, upper-middle class) that was also touched upon in Robert Altman’s The Player (1992). Like with that film,
Martin celebrates and satirizes the city’s culture in a way that only someone
who has experienced it first hand can. The result is the West Coast answer to Manhattan and a film that would make a
good double bill with Altman’s aforementioned film.
The
opening credits play over a montage of L.A. culture albeit with a satirical
spin, like four cars that all arrive at a four-way stop and proceed to politely
wave each other on only to all go at once and crash into each other; there’s
the pedestrian wearing a gas mask (on account of the city’s notorious smog);
how everyone seems to be watering their lawn; and the traffic light that reads,
“Uh Like Walk” and “Uh Like Don’t Walk.” It sets just the right humorous tone
as we get a feel for the kind of laughs the film is going for.
We
meet Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin), a deeply unhappy man who doesn’t
realize it because he is so happy all the time as we are told by his voiceover
narration. He’s one of those wacky weathermen you see on local television
stations cracking lame jokes and wearing funny outfits despite having a Ph.D.
in Arts and Humanities. Regardless, a young executive (Woody Harrelson) tells
him, “more wacky less egghead.” Harris has lunch with a circle of superficial
friends and meets Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant), fresh off the plane from
England and in town to write an article on the city for the London Times. He’s immediately smitten
with her, so much so that he almost forgets about his girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner) when leaving the restaurant.
One
night, while driving on the freeway, Harris’ car breaks down and an electronic
traffic signs begins communicating with him. It offers guidance in the form of
a riddle that he must figure out over the course of the film. Sara ends up
interviewing him for her article which only intensifies his attraction towards
her despite his brief fling with SanDeE (Sarah Jessica Parker), a sexy young
woman from the Valley who sold him a pair of pants. Harris finds himself
physically attracted to her but intellectually she’s a wasteland. Over the
course of the film, Harris must decide whether he should stay involved with the
vivacious SanDeE or get involved with the beautiful and brainy Sara.
There
has always been a fascinating push/pull in Steve Martin’s career – a desire to
be regarded as a serious artist (The
Spanish Prisoner) and yet he does wacky comedies (The Jerk) to pay the bills. With L.A. Story, he gets to do both and in many respects it is his
magnum opus as the screenplay (which he wrote) ambitiously blends broad humor
sight gags with witty dialogue that sometimes references Shakespeare. In the
scenes between him and Victoria Tennant (his wife at the time), one gets the
feeling that Martin is wearing his heart on his sleeve and that he shares
Harris’ hopelessly romantic aspirations. Harris is just trying to find love.
When we meet him he’s in a passionless relationship with Trudi that almost
seems like a business partnership more than anything else. Then, when Harris
meets SanDeE (her name itself is a pretty funny gag) he thinks that maybe he’s found love but soon realizes that they
have nothing in common even though the sex is great. However, when Harris meets
Sara he knows she’s the real deal as they make an instant connection. Martin
does a nice job of playing a guy of substance living in social strata that is devoid
of it. With Sara, Harris finally meets someone that he can be himself with and
doesn’t have to explain many of the intellectual references he makes. Martin
wisely doesn’t try to imitate Woody Allen’s neurotic, nebbish characters and
instead he tempers his wacky persona with a more wistful, romantic side, like
his scenes with the intelligent freeway sign.
With
her cute, little ‘20s flapper-esque hat and quirky personality, Victoria
Tennant’s Sara is the Diane Keaton to Martin’s Woody Allen. Like Keaton’s
character in Manhattan, Sara speaks
her mind and doesn’t act like the people in Harris’ circle of friends, which is
one of the things that he finds attractive about her. L.A. Story is also a sober reminder of just how gifted a comedienne
Sarah Jessica Parker was before she hit it big with Sex and the City. She brings an endearing goofy charm to her
carefree spirit of a character. SanDeE lacks a self-awareness that Harris finds
refreshing.
The
film sends up several clichés of L.A. culture, like how everyone carries a gun
while driving on the freeway; or how everyone is so blasé about a strong
earthquake; or the exotic variations of coffee everyone orders – with a lemon twist,
of course; or how everyone drives everywhere, even a few feet to a neighbor’s
house. None of these gags are very mean but rather good-natured pokes at the
silliness of a lot of the city’s cultural practices and the stereotypes that
everyone has of the place. Martin isn’t out to critique L.A. with biting satire
but rather with affectionate parody.
L.A. Story is beautifully shot by
British cinematographer Andrew Dunn (Gosford
Park) who captures gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. The night scenes
absolutely shimmer while the day scenes have a romantic, soft focus look to
them. This all ties into the magic realism vibe that Martin is going for as he
presents an idealized vision of L.A., which includes talking electronic freeway
signs or how he avoids a traffic jam by riding on the sidewalk and through
people’s backyards. Martin does lay it on a bit thick with the Shakespeare
references, especially the obvious Hamlet
quote complete with Rick Moranis as a British gravedigger but they never take
you completely out of the romantic spell that he is trying to cast over the
film.
Steve
Martin first thought about the project that would become L.A. Story in 1984 when he and Victoria Tennant first became
involved romantically, seeing it as love letter to their relationship. One day,
he was driving down the freeway and thought about using one of its electronic
signs in a film and began writing the screenplay. Martin had felt that the
“ugly image” of L.A. had “been done so much, there’s nothing new about it. I
wanted it to be L.A. through lovers’ eyes.” A native of the city, he had lived
there for 25 years before making the film and was well-versed in its culture
and distinctive idiosyncrasies. He wanted to capture the “calm desperation of
rushing on and never pausing to ask, ‘What did I do for the last 10 years
except figure out how to make a left turn on Santa Monica Boulevard?’”
However,
he kept putting it aside because he found the task of writing his first
original script on his own rather daunting: “I kept feeling it was too weird,
so I’d put it away for a while, and then I would get it out again and work on
it again.” After making Roxanne (1987),
its success emboldened him to finish his script for L.A. Story. As he worked on the script, Martin decided to reference
Shakespeare several times, quoting lines from Richard II, Hamlet, Love’s Labor’s Lost, and King Lear. He started off with only a
couple of references and the rest were added later.
L.A. Story marked the second film
Martin had made with producer Daniel Melnick (the first being Roxanne), veteran of such cinematic
classics as Straw Dogs (1971) and Network (1976), who suggested hiring
British director Mick Jackson. Melnick showed Martin a tape of the British
television miniseries A Very British Coup
to demonstrate the stylish look Jackson could bring to their film. The director
was initially hesitant to accept the offer because he wondered what he could
contribute to a film about L.A. and assumed that Martin preferred to work with
little direction. However, this is exactly what the comedian wanted: an
outsider’s perspective and a strong director. Martin soon found that he and
Jackson shared a common interest in contemporary art and decided to reference
the work of David Hockney throughout L.A.
Story. For example, a swimming pool scene referenced his painting
“California,” which depicted two figures floating on a raft in a pool.
L.A. Story received mixed reviews
from critics. Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, “It isn't thin or superficial; there is an abundance of
observation and invention here, and perhaps because the filmmakers know they
have so much good material, there's never the feeling that anything is being
punched up, or made to carry more than its share.” In his review for the Washington Post, Hal Hinson wrote, “What
saves L.A. Story is its soft-centered
sweetness. The movie is a bonbon; it delivers a little sugar jolt. Instead of
savaging the Angeleno vacuousness, Martin … embraces the town's space case
innocence.” The Globe and Mail’s Rick
Groen wrote, “Gracefully, wittily, charmingly, Martin reveals its dark truths
while honouring its bright wish.”
However, in his review for The
New York Times, Vincent Canby wrote, “The movie is less a narrative than an accumulation
of gentle gags about smog, fads, freeways, dress, earthquakes, mating habits
and trendy restaurants.” Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a “B” rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, “Martin, who supplies the
rather doleful narration, certainly wins your empathy, but he spends too much
time reining himself in … L.A. Story
would have been funnier and more exhilarating if Martin had admitted that, in
his wild-and-crazy way, he really belongs there.” USA Today gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and Mike
Clark wrote, “L.A.
Story is a mass of contradictions: an
unexpectedly ambitious comedy that's not ambitious enough, a Steve Martin love
poem to wife Victoria Tennant that serves her badly, and an oft-insane Martin
script that needs a second creative madman behind the camera.”
Much
like the characters in Manhattan, the
ones in L.A. Story get into messy
relationships but with the exception of Harris spend little to no time
agonizing over them like in Woody Allen’s film because they have already got
another affair going on the side. Sara offers a refreshing perspective for
Harris, which he finds very attractive. For all of the satirical jabs Martin
takes at L.A. one gets the impression that he also has a lot of affection for
it and this comes through in the budding romance between Harris and Sara. Amid
all of the superficiality of the city’s culture that surrounds them they can
make a meaningful connection. At times, it feels like he’s making an epic
statement about L.A. but the film also adopts a more intimate vibe during the
scenes between Harris and Sara. “Why is it that we don’t always recognize the
moment when love begins but we always know when it ends?” Harris says late in
the film. It is a telling observation with a lot of truth to it. L.A. Story’s message is that there is
someone for everyone – even in L.A.
SOURCES
Benenson, Laurie Halpern.
“Steve Martin Targets L.A.” The New York Times. February 3, 1991.
Horn, John. “Steve Martin
Has Eye for Los Angeles in L.A. Story.”
Associated Press. February 5, 1991.
Murphy, Ryan. “Life’s No
Joke for Shy Comic Martin.” The Advertiser. February 23, 1991.
Portman, Jamie. “Steve
Martin Pens Comic Valentine to Favorite Town.” The Record. February 7,
1991.
Yakir, Dan. “L.A. Story.” Globe and Mail.”
February 15, 1991.
It's a film that's easy to watch and like. Martin really shows how versatile he is here, while not played strictly for laughs, he keeps up some good feeling coming through. I'm not sure how well it really covers L.A., but it does manage one convincing point of view.
ReplyDeleteL.A. Story is one of my favorite movies. I've watched it many times and never grow tired of it. Your excellent post hits on all the reasons for why it works so well. Martin's so earnest yet still nails the comedic parts. Sarah Jessica Parker is surprisingly fun, and Martin and Tennant have wonderful chemistry. It's a deceptively charming movie that combines funny moments with a classic love story.
ReplyDeleteI always loved this one, it also reminds me of Roxanne; it has that light, sweet heartedness to it, its never in any rush, the story just breezes by, it kind of hypnotizes you that way. I also like the fact that it feels like a film written by an intelligent fellow, which Steve Martin has proven to be. I wish we could ge more of this Steve Martin then the one we see in films like Pink Panther 2 or Cheaper by the Dozen. Always loved that talking billboard gag, its as if God was talking to him or something.
ReplyDeleteBrent Allard:
ReplyDeleteIt sure is! And I agree with you about Martin's versatility. This may be the best example of what he can really do.
Dan:
Thanks for stopping by. I never tire of this film either. Thanks for the kind words and you're so right, the film is very charming and features so many excellent performances with fantastic chemistry between the two leads.
The Film Connoisseur:
Good call on comparing it to ROXANNE. I get the feeling that that film was a warmup for LA STORY. I also agree with you how the film doesn't rush, but rather takes its time for you to savor the story and the world and the characters that inhabit it.
And like yourself, I wish Martin did more films like this and less of his paycheck films. I understand why he does 'em but still...
One of my favourite movies of all time. Quite a confession, and not sure why it is up there for me! I think I just like the idea of receiving a sign for my life... from a sign. A highly under rated film.
ReplyDeleteMannfan:
ReplyDeleteIt definitely is an underrated film and I like its romanticized view of L.A. Certainly a world apart from the way Michael Mann has depicted the city in his films!