There are a few similarities between LA Story and A Midsummer Night's Dream, but there are a lot more differences. If one did not know that LA Story was based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, it would not even enter into the mind. That being said, when further evaluating the two works, some similar conclusions can be made.
A Midsummer Night's Dream written by Shakespeare is a story of love with some help from fairies. The story goes through many turn of events to reach this final verdict, but by the end the right people love the right people and all is well. This story is a classic piece that is known for being very theatrical and "whimsical".
LA Story, written by and starring Steve Martin, is a movie about a man unsatisfied with where he is at in life, who falls for a girl who is slightly unavailable. Things start changing when his car breaks down by an expressway sign and it mysteriously starts communicating with him. As things turn out, they are finally able to be together with the help of a little magic.
A Midsummer Night's Dream and LA Story both loosely have the same premise of confused lovers with some magic thrown into the mix, but there are few more resemblances from these pieces. One slight detail that they both incorporate is the use of comedy, even though LA Story goes over and beyond making it a staple in the movie. The two pieces incorporate mystical intervention, but A Midsummer Night's Dream uses fairies whereas LA Story uses an expressway sign. One of the biggest differences separating the two is the setting. A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place centuries apart from LA Story, making both pieces clash. The entire feel of A Midsummer Night's Dream stands out as being slightly dramatic and theatrical, which heavily contrasts with the casual everyday modern life that LA Story portrays.
It is interesting how Steve Martin chose to portray A Midsummer Night's Dream in such an abstract and unexpected way. It is hard to believe that LA story was based on such a story, considering the vast differences from the two pieces. After spending a little bit of time comparing the two head to head, small similarities can be detected that reveal the inspiration taken from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
