The defence The Sentimental Softie
“It owes the canon nothing.”
The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.
Back to trending 
The Out-of-Towners
Comedy · 1970
A trip to New York for a job interview turns into a trip to hell for a small town couple.
Movie details
The Out-of-Towners
“When they take you for an out-of-towner, they really take you.”
1970 Comedy 1h 38m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.8 / 10
Community rating
A trip to New York for a job interview turns into a trip to hell for a small town couple.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Out-of-Towners?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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The Air Up There
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Jimmy Dolan is a college basketball coach who wants a big promotion. To get it, he needs to make a dramatic find. He ends up deep in Africa, hoping to recruit Saleh, a huge basketball prodigy Jimmy glimpsed in a home movie. But Saleh is the chief's son and has responsibilities at home, since the tribe's land is threatened by a mining company with its own hotshot basketball team.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Arthur Hiller
Written by
Neil Simon
Jack Lemmon
George Kellerman
Sandy Dennis
Gwen Kellerman
Sandy Baron
Lenny Moyers
Anne Meara
Purse Snatching Victim in Police Station
Robert Nichols
Passenger
Ann Prentiss
Airline Stewardess
Ron Carey
Barney Polacek, Cab Driver in Boston
Court is in session
Put The Out-of-Towners on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”
It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.