This movie wasn't very good when it came out and has aged poorly since. If you want to see a good Martin movie than check out his best - THE JERK. Like a lot of other firsts (movies, albums) this was his BEST, bar none.
Roxanne was ok and so was his performance in GRAND CANYON. Otherwise, Steve Martin's latest movies suck. Sgt. Bilko, anyone? Total *beep* crap!
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Er...nope. It was just lame. And it definitely isn't among Steve Martin's best. In fact, Steve Martin has sucked for quite some time now. Still, check out "The Jerk", it's still his best film, period.
shareThe fact that you think the Jerk is his bests, says volumes about you. It was just a silly, slapstick movie, which is fine, but that doesn't make it his best.
Where there's life there's hope and where there's hope there's crosby
But it is what Steve Martin does best - slapstick. He used to be funny. Now the guy is reduced to *beep* like cheaper by the dozen. It's sad.
sharehow you can lump LA Story in with Cheaper by the dozen is beyond me. The only thing they have in common is that they are both not "The Jerk".
This movie wasn't crap by any stretch. Neither was parenthood, all of me, 3 amigos, planes trains autos, or roxanne. i will give you cheaper by the dozen, though.
You know what's interesting? All the movies we're talking about - parenthood, all of me, etc. are from a long time ago. Some are 20 yrs old or more. So what does that say about Steve Martin? The guy's a has been. His best films were in the 80's and that's ok. Rarely does a comedian get better w age. He certainly hasn't.
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Are you going to refute Bowfinger and Shopgirl as well -- both perceptive and truthful, with humor rooted in keen observation and satire rather than flailing slapstick?
Challenge yourself once in a while to read and understand a movie rather than watch it.
L.A STORY is peak Martin and a great grab bag of comedic styles ranging from intellectual to slapstick, observational to absurdist, satirical to surreal - all of which he pulls off magnificently and he makes the transitions seamlessly, sometimes even in the same scene. His work as a writer is so incredibly underrated (and often more subtle than I think most people would believe him capable of) that people who find THE JERK to be his richest outing kind of have that "More wacky, less egghead" approach to his movies that he seems to be having such an internal (eternal?) struggle with in L.A STORY.
Regarding THE JERK -- over time I've found it to actually be the lesser of the four films he made with Carl Reiner. The other three (DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID, THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS and ALL OF ME) are far more rewarding and much smarter.
I wish Martin would write more movies for himself in any genre. It's too bad that the family comedies have taken precedent lately.
Not only is L.A. Story my absolute favorite Steve Martin movie off all time, it ranks up there in my favorite movies of all time....period.
shareAbsolutely agree. It's insightful, it delightfully skewers L.A., and more than that, it speaks to the better angels of our nature as far as relationships go.
What fascinates me is that Martin and Tennant were married at the time, and how Martin basically said later that their divorce was because he was "a big stupid male," to quote the movie.
Love it. And as far as aging well, I've watched it before my second marriage, during, and after, and it has spoken to me at all of those times (So apparently I'm not much better at "matters of the heart" than most.. :-)
Everyone's entitled to their opinions, of course, but there's a lot to love in this one if you're any at all a person of subtlety, romance, popular culture, or literature.
Actually, "The Absent-Minded Waiter" was Steves first movie. It was a short and I don't know if it was ever shown in the states.
shareIf you enjoy mindless slapstick comedy, then watch The Jerk, but if you want a clever, funny movie that ticks all the boxes that you can notice something different even after watching it dozens of times, then watch L.A. Story. My favourite Steve Martin film. The Jerk was silly without the clever, and as someone who only watched L.A. Story for the first time a couple of years ago, it hasn't dated at all.
shareL A Story is, WITHOUT QUESTION, my favorite steve martin movie with Parenthood and Roxanne in the 2 and 3 spots. Grand Canyon was also a very good movie, but it wasn't really his movie. I haven't seen shop girl so i can't comment on that one. And of course The Jerk is funny, but imo, not even close to his best.
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Me thinks Samboknows is in his early 20s with a statement like "those movies were a long time ago". Yes, the Neolithic Age of the 1980s, a whole 20+ years ago, an entire lifetime to some. Perhaps when he hits his early 30s, he'll get pissed when someone says the 90s were ages ago (his generation).
shareThis movie was brilliant. God forbid mindless idiots have to think about a joke. It's too bad as this is an underappreciated comedy. It just goes to show how poor IMDB has become in terms of its ratings. Too many things influence how a movie is judged these days, and too many people rate a movie based purely on circunstances totally unrelated to the film itself.
Unfortunately, because of the above facts, not everyone deserves the right to vote.
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