Search - L.A. Story [Widescreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Humor, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1991 DVD Release: 05/20/1998 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 38 mins Studio: Live/Artisan Total Copies: 2 Genres: Comedy, Romantic Comedy, Sophisticated Comedy, Urban Comedy See Also: L.A. Story [Letterbox], L.A. Story [15th Anniversary]

Steve Martin wrote and stars in this look at the promise and dreamtime of Los Angeles culture. Martin stars as Harris K. Telemacher, a light-hearted television weatherman who does wacky comedy in lieu of reports since, being in L.A., he has very little weather to report. He spends his time roller-skating through museums and spending time with California's beautiful people. But Telemacher is fired and discovers that his girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner) is having an affair. He walks away from the relationship and re-evaluates his life, getting advice from a friendly electronic highway road sign. The sign suggests that he call SanDeE (Sarah Jessica Parker), a sprightly and attractive Valley Girl he met in a clothing store. With SanDeE he experiences a liberating and carefree spirit. But Telemacher comes to realize that he has actually fallen in love with Sara (Victoria Tennant), a tuba-playing British journalist who is in California to do a feature on Los Angeles lifestyles. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Steve Martin - Harris K. Telemacher
Victoria Tennant - Sarah McDowel
Richard E. Grant - Roland Mackey
Marilu Henner - Trudi
Sarah Jessica Parker - SanDeE

This DVD isn't as perfect as L.A.'s weather, but what is? It's still acceptable, though the non-anamorphic picture and the Dolby 2.0 soundtrack could be better. No matter -- Steve Martin fanatics still will want to replace their VHS tape with this Artisan DVD. The back-cover copy promises a bit more than is delivered. The "director's commentary" hyped on the DVD box appears in the form of a short featurette (not a separate audio track) and the Easter eggs (hidden features) don't add much. They're just ultra-short snippets from interviews with the movie's principals, but at least they're easy to find: just arrow-key around the screens until something lights up, then press "Enter." The best extras are the trivia-packed, text-based production notes and information about the movie's many cameos from the likes of Rick Moranis, Woody Harrelson, and Patrick Stewart. Or at least, those seem to be the best extras. Maybe that promised director's commentary is lurking somewhere in an Easter egg. ~ Jen Muehlbauer, All Movie Guide