By
Adam Pugh
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Grade: B
'Town and Country' provokes more thought than laughter
Movies that boast a cast of famous names and a funny plot are often really good movies - or they're dumb story ideas with famous people's names attached to them.
The new movie "Town and Country" has the famous actors and skips the "dumb story" routine, providing a story that is not only smart, but funny as well. Although the plot takes full advantage of humor, for the most part the movie stays on the serious side of things.
The film itself is no different from any other movie visually - it is the dialogue that makes this film memorable. The story of "Town and Country" could easily have been a radio program 50 years ago because of the dialogue. The movie is made of a slew of conversations about relationships tied together with little jokes. The movie focuses more on situational comedy than the actual subject matter, which makes serious issues easier to take in.
Taking a witty spin on the grave premise of adultery, "Town and Country" still makes you think about marriage as a serious prospect. Some parts of the film even leave you feeling sorry for the people involved in these "serious" situations.
Porter Stoddard (Warren Beatty) is a famous architect who cannot seem to keep his pants on, no matter how hard he tries. He has ended up with more women than he can handle, each one full of new surprises. "Town and Country's" trailer boasts that "there is no such thing as a small affair." How true it is.
With his eye on one woman while sleeping with another, Stoddard quickly digs himself into a deep trench of lust and infidelity. The situations help explore the many options available when a marriage is on the verge of falling apart. In this respect, the seriousness of the movie is good. It gets you thinking about what you might do in the same situation. However, at times the movie overplays the "good" of adultery.
Stoddard's wife Ellie (Diane Keaton) and her friend Mona (Goldie Hawn) both face losing their marriages to men who have cheated on them. But after Mona's breakup with husband Griffin (Garry Shandling), she is alone and in need of her old friend Porter. The movie just gets more and more complicated with each new mistress and friend that gets involved.
"Town and Country" was originally set to be released in 1998, but had trouble getting out of the editing stages resulting from problems in adding a coherent ending. The sad part about the extra effort put into filming is that the movie does not reflect a higher film quality. However, it is the creativity put into the film's dialogue that makes it a good movie.
"Town and Country" is said to be a comedy, but this is a film that will leave you thinking about the movie more than laughing at it.
