L.A. STORY (1991) is a somewhat disappointing piece of lazy reverie for a true genius like Steve Martin only because we all know how great he can be when he wants to (The Jerk, Three Amigos, Roxanne, etc.).

Martin, who has recently received the nation's highest comedy award Twain in 2005, plays Harris K. Telemacher, the whacky LA weatherman who falls in love with the British reporter Sara McDowel (Victoria Tenant who has been his wife in real life as well).

However, to be with the one he truly loves, Telemacher must get rid of the fake loves in his life and concentrate on what is true and pure.

In this pursuit, his mentor and guru proves to be none other than an LA freeway billboard which communicates with him through its lighted board in scenes shamelessly lifted off from the Steven Spielberg movie The Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

It's thanks to the billboard's magical wisdom that the hapless Telemacher finds salvation at the end. I felt that was a rather sad commentary on the state of human affairs in the City of Angels.

As a catalog of the quirky characters and settings (parking lot reserved for Capricorns, for example) the film does have a certain archival value. But as a dramatic narrative it is contrived and forced.

For those who'd like to be exposed to the best Steve Martin's wonderful writing I heartily recommend SHOPGIRL, the book. L.A. STORY is a film which proves that comedy is hard indeed.

This supposed comedy rates a mournful 5 out of 10.

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