The Out-of-Towners
A small-town couple's carefully planned New York business trip becomes an escalating gauntlet of comic disasters before a crucial job interview.
Overview
A couple's dream trip to New York City turns into a chaotic adventure filled with unexpected challenges.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Mild
- frantic
- witty
- exasperated
- classic comedy night
- lazy weekend
What critics said
Critics broadly found the premise and performances capable of producing laughs, but many considered the repetitive disasters and overly talkative, predictable screenplay less effective than the setup promised.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Kellermans encounter successive failures involving their flight, lodging, transportation, and New York itinerary during the fifteen hours before George's interview.
George and Gwen arrive from quiet Twin Oaks expecting an ideal New York visit but are overwhelmed by the city's disruptions and institutional indifference.
George's need for validation and Gwen's increasingly exasperated reactions shape how the couple handles every new crisis.
The film repeatedly transforms routine business travel into chaotic, embarrassing, and highly visible predicaments.
Films like The Out-of-Towners, and why
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
shared screwball escalation, urban travel chaos, and frustrated middle-class protagonists
The Palm Beach Story
shared fish-out-of-water comedy, escalating mishaps, and uneasy marital dynamics
The Apartment
shared workplace and domestic frustration, verbal sparring, and frantic comic pacing
Movie Details
- Director
- Arthur Hiller
- Release Date
- 1970-05-28
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (147)
Cast
- Jack Lemmon
- Sandy Dennis
- Sandy Baron
- Anne Meara
- Robert Nichols
- Ann Prentiss
- Ron Carey
- Philip Bruns
- Graham Jarvis
- Carlos Montalbán
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- YouTube TV
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Out-of-Towners about?
- A small-town couple's carefully planned New York business trip becomes an escalating gauntlet of comic disasters before a crucial job interview.
- What is The Out-of-Towners like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Out-of-Towners as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.
- Is The Out-of-Towners violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Out-of-Towners as mild.
- What did critics think of The Out-of-Towners?
- Critics broadly found the premise and performances capable of producing laughs, but many considered the repetitive disasters and overly talkative, predictable screenplay less effective than the setup promised.
- Which films are like The Out-of-Towners?
- Films with a similar feel include Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Palm Beach Story, and The Apartment.
- How long is The Out-of-Towners?
- The Out-of-Towners runs 98 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Out-of-Towners?
- In United States, The Out-of-Towners streams on YouTube TV.
