After a long wait, L.A. Story in high definition
L. A. Story is Steve Martin's love letter to his then wife, Victoria Tennant, and to the city of Los Angeles. Sadly, his marriage to Tennant did not endure; they divorced in 1994, three years after the film's release. His love of Los Angeles appears to be alive and well; he lives there to this day. The love of L.A. is the best part of the film. It's a Steve Martin movie so he lampoons it, often quite sharply, but you can feel the love behind it. The love story with Tennant is also sweet, but marred by a lack of visible chemistry between Martin and Tennant. (I don't know what the state of their relationship was at the time, but in any case chemistry doesn't come across on film.) Other notable characters are SanDeE*, a very Californian young woman played by Sarah Jessica Parker in her first notable film role, and Richard Grant as Tennant's ex. There is a funny minor part played by Patrick Stewart, and uncredited cameos by Chevy Chase, Woody Harrelson, Paula Abdul, Martin Lawrence, Rick Moranis, and Terry Jones. A hilarious bit by John Lithgow was filmed but cut for length; you can watch it in the deleted scenes on the disc. Finally, there is a highway sign that is an important character. The music in L.A. Story is mostly classic songs from the 50s and 60s. Three songs by Enya are used as the soundtrack of emotionally evocative scenes, to good effect. L.A. Story is sweet and funny. It's one of my favorite Steve Martin films. Recommended, especially for fans of Martin's films from the 80s and 90s. Now, on to the 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray... The film gets a good high definition transfer. It occasionally looks a bit soft but that appears to be in the original cinematography and may have been an artistic choice. The sound is in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio, is available both in 5.1 surround and a stereo downmix, and is also fine; there are no spectacular sound effects in the film. (The theatrical release was in analog Dolby Stereo, but all disc releases have had digital surround sound.) The picture and sound are both an upgrade from the earlier DVD versions. English and Spanish subtitles are available, and appear to be identical to the ones on earlier releases. The Blu-Ray includes a number of extra features. O2BEINLA: Mick Jackson's L.A. Stories is new to this edition; it's an interview with director Mick Jackson where he talks about how he came to be involved in making L.A. Story and the artistic choices he made. Two others, The Story of L.A. Story and The L.A. of L.A. Story, were originally made for the 15th anniversary DVD edition in 2006. The Story of L.A. Story intercuts bits from the featurette on the original DVD edition from the 90s with interviews of some of the cast. The L.A. of L.A. Story visits many of the locations that were used in the film, including the Ambassador Hotel which was used for a number of indoor scenes and was torn down just after the featurette was made. There is also a collection of deleted scenes, including the ones with John Lithgow, and marketing materials including multiple versions of the movie's trailer (some of which contain scenes that were cut from the actual film). Alas, there is no director's commentary track. There never has been. The second release of the DVD in 2001 listed one as an extra, but it contained the same disc as the original 1998 DVD and does not actually contain any commentary. But the new featurette with the director is a pretty good replacement. Fans of the movie are going to want this disc, even if they already have one of the DVD releases. If you haven't seen L.A. Story, watching this disc just might turn you into a fan. Read more
