L.A. Story, 1991 - ★★★½

Sarah Jessica Parker delivers an all-time performance as SanDeE*—maniacally brilliant in a role that feels like screwball comedy pushed through a blender. The film noticeably deflates when Marilu Henner's wicked energy exits early, taking much of the comic electricity with her.

The central romance is where things falter. Victoria Tennant (married to Martin at the time) somehow has the worst chemistry of his three love interests. Once the film shifts into pure romance mode and both SJP and Henner are offscreen, it seriously drags.

Still, Martin scatters genuinely brilliant moments throughout: that earthquake-interrupted lunch where drink orders cause more panic than seismic activity, his Gene Kelly homage rollerskating through LACMA, and a freeway sign that might've invented text-speak decades early.

This one has its moments—could've been an all-timer if it trusted its comic instincts over its romantic obligations