My first introduction to Steve Martin was through an HBO comedy event showcasing his 'wild and crazy guy' shtick. Here was an average looking, middle-aged man making audiences laugh with Groucho glasses, arrows through the head and balloon animals. Watching at home, I was laughing just as hard as everyone else.to this day I still recite The Nonconformist's Oath ("I Promise to be different……. I promise to be unique…… I promise not to repeat things other people say!) His first few films utilized this approach to comedy, but as he started to hit the 90's, he opted to begin doing more grown up comedy. Films like "Roxanne" and "Parenthood" became more the style he was identified for, and later he would begin a foray into more esoteric humor, only to make the move back to his roots doing silly comedy again (in some cases to bad effect). During the 90's, Martin wrote the screenplay for "L.A. Story" in which he portrayed weatherman Harris Telemacker.

Telemacker lived in L.A. (hence the title) and considered himself to be an intellectual and being so surrounded himself with an array of pseudo-intellectuals. In reality, Martin was using the film to make fun of the many types of dim-witted souls living in the City of Angels (of course, if he came to Texas, he would have considered L.A. people to be geniuses).

For the most part, the film moved from scene to scene poking fun at all of these stereotypes, the most memorable to me being a scene at a restaurant where each person at the table orders coffee. In what seemed like a precursor to the demon that is Starbucks, they order everything from a Double Decaf Frappacino to a Phi Beta KappaCino. I'm not even sure any of them ordered coffee at all. I work for a big accounting firm in downtown Dallas, so I see these 'fake people' everyday and get a huge laugh out of their fraudulent attempts at intelligence.

Of course, Martin was wise enough to incorporate a plot around all of these scenes in order to keep it from being little more than a bag of gags. There is a romance of sorts, with Telemacker falling for a beautiful British woman, Sara (Victoria Tennant) while juggling a relationship with a twenty-something airhead (Sarah Jessica Parker) who goes by the name, SanDeE (think an even dumber version of Paris Hilton… as if that was possible…). Unfortunately Sara is still pining for her ex-husband (Richard E. Grant) and so building a relationship is difficult, plus he has trouble keeping his own libido in check when faced with the extremely limber SanDeE.

Lion's Gate has released and all-new 15th Anniversary DVD edition of "L.A. Story", complete with some extras sure to please Steve Martin fans. Sad to say there is no commentary by Martin, which would have been very welcome indeed. But there is a bit of a behind the scenes featurette as well as an interactive map of some of the trendy locations used in the film. Additionally there are some deleted scenes which include a few that feature John Lithgow and Scott Bakula, a few humorous outtakes, and some of the original 1991 marketing materials.

Directed by: Mick Jackson
Starring: Steve Martin, Victoria Tennant, Richard E. Grant, Marilu Henner, Sarah Jessica Parker
Extras: "The Story of L.A. Story" featurette, "The L.A. of L.A. Story": An Interactive Map of the Popular Sites Filmed for L.A. Story, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes,
Original Theatrical Marketing Materials from 1991
Specifications: Widescreen (1.85:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
Studio: Lions Gate
Release Date: 6/13/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Website

We'll give LA Story: 15th Anniversary Edition a C+.