NEIL SIMON'S LONDON SUITE
US, 1996, 100 minutes, Colour.
Kelsey Grammar, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Michael Richards, Jane Carr, Julie Haggerty, Patricia Clarkson, Paxton Whitehead, Madeline Kahn, Richard Mulligan.
Directed by Jay Sandrich.
Neil Simon's London Suite is a telemovie - with echoes of his previous portmanteau plays and films, Plaza Suite and California Suite.
This film is particularly American despite its London locations, especially at the Grosvenor Hotel. The film relies on Neil Simon's wit - a bit obvious here though always amusing. It also relies on the performances, although Julia Louis Dreyfus seems over-frenetic as the wife who thinks her husband has left her. Also from Seinfeld is Michael Richards, who mugs as the punter from America whose back goes on him. Madeleine Kahn is her usual self as a mother on a shopping spree. Richard Mulligan also mugs with a false Irish accent. This leaves Julie Hegarty to be one of the more calm members of the cast. The best story involves an actress (Patricia Clarkson) and her meeting with her former husband who has acknowledged that he is gay. Kelsey Grammer gives a very persuasive and sympathetic performance in this role. (It is reminiscent of the Maggie Smith- Michael Caine episode in California Suite.) The film was directed by Jay Sandrich, who has directed a number of versions of Neil Simon, for instance Seems Like Old Times.
1.The popularity of Neil Simon as playwright, and the adaptations of his plays for big screen and small screen? Expectations of his style, characters, humour and wit?
2.The popularity of the portmanteau film - the four stories interweaving, the setting of the Grosvenor Hotel?
3.The Grosvenor Hotel itself and its appearance, affluence? The atmosphere of London? The exteriors and interiors? The musical score?
4.The life of the hotel - especially as focused on the manager and his coping with the crises? The bellboys and their help? The manager and the doctor?
5.The nervous wife, her desperate arrival, the story of her having been married, the story of the drinking and festivities on the plane? Her telling the truth to her husband? The sympathetic ear of the manager and his helping her? Her waiting, anxiety, the phone calls? Going to her room? The arrival of the brother-in-law and his wife, the build-up to the party? Her mad excuses about the illness of her husband? His sudden arrival, the diplomacy of the manager? The story of his arrest, the happy reunion?
6.The couple going to Wimbledon, their arrival at the airport, the husband and his back going out, his complaints, showing off with the luggage and lifting it? The taxi in traffic and the sardonic remarks of the driver and their inability to understand his English? Arrival at the hotel, critique, the room, the collapse? His agony and lying on the floor? The wife and the search for the tickets, going downstairs? The doctor, the manager trying to help? The bellboy and his being unconscious? The happy resolution?
7.The actress returning to England, her television career? Grace and her devotion? Anticipating her husband's arrival? The separation of eight years, the background of his coming out and his living in Greece with his lover? The anticipation of his arrival? His pleasant manner towards Grace, understanding her devotion? The reunion, the discussions, the wit, sparring off each other? His story of his friend's illness, wanting the money? The realisation that the story was about him? Their having the meal together, the question of the money, her persuading him to go to the US for treatment?
8.The mother and her shopping spree, the help of the daughter, buying her own shoes? Getting her hair done? The odd Irishman and his snorting, accent? The going out, the preparation for the outing, his courting her?
9.A cross-section of American tourists in London? Audiences identifying with the characters, the situations, the humour?
