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Town & Country

Town & Country

List Price: $9.97
Your Price: $9.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: All Star Cast Couldn't Save the Script, and Naturally
Review: "Inconsistent" is the keyword of "Town and Country." I mean, the keyword of how to explain the failure of the film. Maybe I'm mistaken, but when I watched it in theater in Japan, the touch of photography slightly changes in the last 30 minutes. At first, the colors and the light of the film are soft, but near the ending they get suddenly sharper and things look more distinct. And maybe I'm mistaken again, but the opening credit has it "Joshua Hartnett" while in the ending credit "Josh Hartnett," the way he is usually known now.

What I want to say is, as you know, "Town and Country" has experienced several re-writes because of negative response from the viewers at the screen test. But to re-write or re-shoot a film is not unusual these days -- "Fatal Attration" is one good example -- but in this case, the bad reaction from the audience could have been predicted with ease. Check out the story. The hero, who suddenly turns a philanderer when his should be well mature, is played by none other than Warren Beatty (come on!); he has an affiar with a beautiful cellist (sexy Nastassja Kinski) and his friend's wife (ever gorgeous Goldie Hawn); and then, he goes on to have another one (apparently) with Andie MacDowell and Jenna Elfman. He regrets (why not?) and goes back to his wife Diane Keaton, and asks to be forgiven, and ... she forgives!! Okay, this is an ultimate fantasy for men, I understand, but no one, male or female, buys that idea. So, Buck Henry was called as script-doctor, but even his talent could do nothing. As a result, sometimes the film looks like a romance; sometimes a farce (and not a bad one when Gary Shandling is allowed to do his stuff): sometimes very serious and ... forget it. By now, you got my point. The film is always apologetic for what it is based on. Whoever gave this impossible script a green light?

At the climax ceremony scene, many co-stars hurriedly show up one by one -- Elfman, MacDowell, Kinski, and Heston -- but so hurriedly go away that this final showdown, which could be used as a good slapstick farce, vanishes without a trace. It is as if they got other commitments. Maybe they did. It looks as if they are running away, and if so, it's a wise decision.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This Has Some Very Funny Moments...
Review: ...like at the Costume Party. And when Beatty goes to the home of psycho McDowell and runs into Charlton Heston, her dad, an avid hunter and a card carrying NRA member who has that cold dead grip on his daughter as well as his rifles. McDowell's wheelchair bound, vodka gimlet drinking Mother thinks this rifle business of his is limpness, pure and simple. But don't let the neighbors know, willya?

Beatty, it seems, comes right back, full circle, to the Lothario thing that he established in Shampoo. (Hey! Goldie Hawn was in that one with Beatty, too.) And it works on the audience for a while. Until he gives that same "I'm so, so sorry, but I can't help myself" speech--updated and Grecian formula dyed for the New Nilhilenium. Plus, now he's married in real life and in this docudrama.

And who would have thought Garry Shandling would play so convincing a gay man--albeit one who has difficulties admitting this to his wife and his pal? Jenna Elfman here is goofy but wasted. Her persona is better than what's offered her here. SHE should have played Mary Jane Watson to Maguire's Spiderman...and Keaton--hey! didn't she appear with Beatty in Reds?--well, she played a woman who obviously has *no clue* quite well.

If nothing else, a great way for us guys to oogle over the fabuloso Natassia K. and be astounded by Hawn's great gams. One wonders if Hawn has taken that potion her character had in Death Becomes Her.

I'd better stop here. I'm beginning to sound a little like Warren Beatty.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hidden Feature
Review: 1 hidden feature on this dvd

Push up until the high-light bar is gone, then push enter.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not great, but not as bad as you'd think
Review: After an almost steady diet of martial arts flicks, I thought it was time for a change. That's when I switched to this marital art flick: Town and Country. Although the movie has been almost universally-panned by critics, I really don't think it's that bad.

Admittedly, the ending is saccharine and weak, and there isn't a plot, but the film is an interesting ride in a slice-of-life kind of way. When Porter Stoddard discovers his best friend has been having an affair to the detriment of his marriage, it sets him to thinking, albeit with the wrong head. When it seems that everyone in his household is in the midst of a rut season, it sets him over the edge. Porter's inevitable adulterous affairs are truly entertaining, if unbelievable. Two out of the four women he becomes amorously attached to are absolute wackos (one believes her dolls are alive and another believes she's been impregnated by a cello), and it's probably this, as much as his love for his wife, that makes him attempt to get back into his earlier, saner state of marital bliss.

The movie is filled with understated ironies, and it's this subtlety that saves the movie from being a total flop. I enjoyed the little touches, like the cellist's wonderful tattoos, the interior decorator's home being absolutely hideous, and the awkward homo-erotic tension between Griffin and Porter.

Most of all, I enjoyed the performance of Charlton Heston as the psychotic father of an insane ski bunny. Town and Country is worth watching just for the scene where Porter meets this family. I laughed so hard, I had pause the movie to catch my breath.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This movie is very, very, very, very bad
Review: An amazing cast in a movie that ends up making absolutely no sense whatsoever. It's actually one of those really bad films that's so bad it's fun to watch. It's beautifully shot, the score's pretty good, the opening scenes are okay...but then we're left with characters with no motivation doing ridiculous things, who show up unexpectedly with no explanation as to how they got there or why they're there, and a complete lack of any sensible ending. Garry Shandling almost redeems this film. But that's a very, very, very, very big almost.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Wish I could rate it No Stars.
Review: Believe the rest of the reviewers when they say that this possibly may be the worst movie ever made. My review is only based on watching 1/2 of the movie because after the scene where Charlton Heston starts bellowing like a dragon, I had to turn it off or be sick to my stomach. My feeling is that movie is just too young for the actors playing the lead roles. Warren Beatty is in his 60's - yes I know that men get better as they get older, but seeing yet another movie where the husbands start to have mid life crises and start having affairs and the women are clueless is just passe at this point. These are roles that these actors can play with their eyes closed. They certainly have proven time and time again that they are talented - why did they waste their time on this drivel?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not Worth It
Review: Do not waste your time. In spite of the cast, this movie is a whopping dud. Meandering and unfulfiling. A shame. I'd give it zero stars, but the system won't let me.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: FUNNY
Review: Even though this wasnt a great movie, it was extremely funny. I would rate this movie a 10 by any means but for a good laugh i would highly recommend it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: not as bad as everyone says
Review: First off most people will probally want to rent this first, Because it's not something everyone like despite the huge esemble cast. The movie is pretty funny largly in the last half with Andie Mcdowell and Charslton Heston Yes I said Chalston Heston. The Movie came and went quickly in theatres and I had decided I would Purchase on dvd. I don't regert buting this movie but a lot of people probbally wont like enough to own. One more thing The dvd is bare bones and includes only the trailer and cast and crew biogrpies and the option to watch it in wide or full on a one sided disc which i liked, I hate flipper dvds like terminator and goodfellas.Why did they not atleat put a featurette and some delted scenes on the disc.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Town and Country: A Tour de Force and a Breath of Fresh Air
Review: Having seen Town and Country twice, I am very surprised by the negative reviews. Here is a film that offered a tour de force in ensemble acting, scenes that were deliciously subtle and laugh-out-loud hilarious, a plot that poked goodnatured fun at both human foibles and society's icons and still managed to address serious issues without somehow trivializing them.

For once you have mature characters (however flawed) played by mature actors, Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Gary Shandling whose chemistry and respect for each other fuel the story with an unstoppable energy and generous spirit. The supporting cast with Natassia Kinski, Andie Macdowell, Genna Elfman and Charlton Heston play their roles to perfection.

Town and Country is partly a contemporary and very literate comedy of manners and partly a cautionary tale about taking the gifts we have for granted. Despite his fall from grace, as in any classic comedy, Warren Beatty's character has a chance at redemption and a chance to reclaim conjugal bliss. Regardless of the poor reviews, I predict that Town and Country will prove to be a sleeper classic.


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