The Out-of-Towners

In this half-hearted revamp of Arthur Hiller's 1969 comedy of mishaps, as penned by Neil Simon, Housesitter duo Martin and Hawn are reunited as a happily married Midwestern couple, who decide to embark on a simple business trip to New York. For 24 long hours, Nancy and Henry live to regret it: they're relieved of their money by an Andrew Lloyd Webber impersonator, go hungry and inadvertently find themselves in a group therapy session full of wankers. Worse, on arrival at their NY hotel, their reservation is declined by the manager, a condescending cross-dresser played, predictably, by John Cleese (embarrassing). Hawn and Martin make a likeable enough couple and their unexpected 'adventure' does throw up a few very funny set-pieces. But from the opening scene, it's clear director Sam Weisman has neither the desire nor, for that matter, the talent for turning what is essentially mere melodramatic Hollywood fluff into something a little less, well, lazy.