After my diss last week of Steve Martin, about his ill-conceived decision to do a second bad remake of the Pink Panther series. (we call them "paycheck movies") I was reminded today, via a TBS broadcast, of another ill-advised remake of a classic: "The Out-of-Towners," which Martin did with Goldie Hawn in 1999– that Martin really should be prosecuted as a serial-remaker.
The original (1970) was directed by Arthur Hiller, from a Neil Simon script (he won a WGA award for it). The inspired casting of Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis (both nominated for Globes) further galvanized this picture as an untouchable Simon-comedy classic. I cannot think of this movie without hearing in my head the nasal delivery of Dennis: "Oh my gaaawd."
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