From my favorite movies..

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

LA Story is a great comedy film. Its comedy is of a serious nature and many may not find it enjoyable. Shot in the early 90s the film has a sort of sunny glow that paints the entire Los Angeles city scape. This is a love letter to the city of Los Angeles and there are some very gooey scenes which will make you want to visit the city of angels. Steve Martin during this time was at the top of his game and he is in sublime form here. His real life partner at the time Victoria Tennant is equally good as a new arrival to the city. Sarah Jessica Parker long before her famed stint in NYC is refreshing as the young, perky woman. L.A story is a very good comedy and an ode to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, the meteorologist Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) is the wacky weatherman of television news. He has a wasted relationship with his obnoxious girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner) and he feel that he lives a boring life.When Harris meets the Londoner journalist Sara McDowell (Victoria Tennant), who has come to LA to write en article for the London Times, in a brunch party with her ex-husband Roland Mackey (Richard E. Grant) and other friends, he believes that she is the woman of his life. Harris does not know how to seduce her and he discovers that Trudi has been cheating him with his agent for three years. Then Harry dates the younger aspirant spokesmodel SanDeE* (Sarah Jessica Parker) because he believes that Sara is interested in her ex-husband. However a freeway signpost helps Harry to woo Sara."L.A. Story" is a romantic comedy that is still delightful and witty after so many years from the release. The chemistry between Steve Martin and his wife is perfect and there are hilarious dialogs and situations, like for example, when Harris tells Sara that he would like to take her on a cultural tour of L.A., and Sara replies that this would be the first fifteen minutes. Or when he tells to SanDeE* that her breasts are weird and she answers that it is because they are real. Or when SanDeE* and Roland fantasize with Mel Gibson. In addition, there are cameos of many actors and famous people. The music score by Enya is awesome and fits perfectly to the conclusion. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "L.A. Story"

Basically I go to the movies to be entertained and if I walk out at the end of the movie with a warm satisfied feeling I feel that the film has done its job. LA story is completely in this category.I've seen LA story several times since it first came out and I've always felt thoroughly entertained. The best way to categorize it would be as a romantic comedy with some extremely zany humor. It's about Harris K Telemacher (Martin) who runs the weather segment on a LA TV news channel. The LA weather doesn't change very much so he just mostly clowns it up, in fact the segment is called "the wacky weather guy". In the course of the film he meets and falls in love with a UK news reporter (Tennant - his wife at the time) and has a fling with a delightfully air-headed shop girl (Sarah Jessica Parker).Most of the humor arises from a light hearted look at the California life style. Probably my favourite joke is the scene at the ATM with two queues but there is so much more. I've always been a Monty Python fan and much of the humor is in this category. There is a fantasy element involving a freeway sign and a soundtrack with some hauntingly beautiful Enya melodies.I can see from the other reviews that some people didn't get the humor and I can recall showing the film to two friends who sat through it with mostly straight faces. All I can say is that it totally worked for me and I would rate it as Martin's finest work. Sadly he was never this funny again.If you haven't seen LA Story then give it a try. I think you may be pleasantly surprised. It's 10/10 for me.

LA Story was one of the rare films Steve Martin wrote a screenplay for. Something he should do more often. His writing style is often fresh and engaging. Its unfortunate that he spends all his time nowadays churning out mediocre stuff in front of the camera, when his work on the printed page really crackles with wit. Look no further than the underrated Shopgirl. Martin's best film in ages, and all because he was acting from a script he wrote.LA Story is quite possibly the one worthy film of Steve Martin's in the 1990s, because right after, he started the gradual decline of his career. Unchallenging, soft-headed fluff that were a waste of Martin's talents. Beginning with the trite and terrible Father of the Bride. And it only got worse from there.But LA Story had Steve Martin at the pinnacle of his powers. It is to Los Angeles what Woody Allen's Manhattan was to New York. LA Story is a film bound to sharply divide people. If you can swallow the film's pill (and its a pretty big pill I'll admit), you'll find much to enjoy. If you can't, LA Story will most likely leave you cold. Look no further than Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel's opposite sides of the spectrum regarding this film.Martin plays wacky weatherman Harris K. Telemacher. Harris takes the daily grindings of LA life in his stride. He's come to expect the random muggings, the snooty restaurants and the dull as dishwater art museums that are all part of the wonderful world of Los Angeles. But he couldn't possibly have expected help in his lovelife from an electronic road sign. Before long, Harris is caught between two women in his life, the free spirited SanDeE* (Sarah Jessica Parker, brilliant!) and the prim English rose, Sara (Victoria Tennant).The success of LA Story rides upon how much you're willing to give in to the film's conceit. After all the very idea of a freeway sign being a possible oracle of the ages is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows. But I put disbelief aside, and was swept away by the film's dazzling turns and delightful wit. As I said before, Steve Martin's skills as a writer have often been undervalued, and his rich and accessible screenplay makes LA Story an astonishing, powerful ode to the city of Los Angeles.Steve Martin's feelings about the city can often seem ambivalent. On the one hand he doesn't resist the temptation to satirise LA's shallow, superficial side (who wouldn't?!). But on the other, buried within the film's jokes and opinions, there does seem a gentle affection for the city. Perhaps even an admiration. The different people we meet all seem to ennoble a particular facet. To the point that the city of Los Angeles almost takes on a life of its own and becomes a character in of itself.Steve Martin's trademark manic energy is relatively restrained here (barring his hilarious weather forecasts, always wrong), but his enthusiasm for the role shines just as bright as LA itself! He never misses an opportunity to make a glib quip about LA. There are really too many to mention, but none of them feel unwelcome. And he's supported himself with a fine cast.In a brief but very memorable role, Marilu Henner plays Harris' vain, upwardly mobile girlfriend Trudie. A woman that embodies everything wrong with LA. Even when stuck in traffic, she's more concerned with outward appearance. Her relationship with Harris is hilarious, and when he learns she's been cheating on him for three years, his response is priceless ("this has been going on since the 80s!").The scene stealer of the whole film is Sarah Jessica Parker. What a wonderful performance! Although she plays the role of a typical ditzy, LA valley girl, she brings so much energy and enthusiasm she walks away with the entire movie. Never has SJP had such fun in a film. Clearly enjoying herself immensely, she hops, skips and cartwheels her way from one end of the screen to the next. If she stood still for more then ten seconds she would probably explode! The crux of the film is the blossoming love between Harris and Sara, but I was secretly hoping he would wind up with SanDeE*!But no. That could never be. Victoria Tennant is Steve Martin's true love (ironically three years before they divorced). I'm not convinced Tennant is all that much of an actress, but her straight-faced style of acting is appropriate when confronted with the outlandish city streets of LA. She's as baffled by its wackiness as Harris is.And things don't get much wackier than the ending, where it seems LA itself steps in to play matchmaker between Harris and Sara. Its an ending of such cosmic proportions it will either leave you completely awed or cursing the heavens. I chose the former. The ending could seem ridiculous, but not when you take the rest of the film into account beforehand. The emotional climax is earned the way it pieces it together from lots of different elements scattered throughout the film. But that's something you couldn't possibly know until you've seen the film a few dozen times.LA Story is a true classic. Mick Jackson's direction is so whimsical and lush, every frame bursts out with a joy and exuberance not often found in Hollywood entertainment. I felt flattened by the film's finale, helped no end by the exhilarating Exile, sung hauntingly by Enya. It all adds up to a rather delectable confection. They say Los Angeles is the City of Angels. I think of it more as a City of Dreamers. And LA Story shows how the dreams of the few can sometimes come true.