The Accidental Tourist

The Accidental Tourist
by Lawrence Kasdan

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Amy Wright, David Ogden Stiers, Geena Davis, Kathleen Turner, William Hurt
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 121 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-01
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video

Movie Reviews of The Accidental Tourist

Movie Review: From An Intentional Movie Goer
Summary: 4 Stars

One of the most insensitive questions I ever heard a media journalist pose to an actor was just after the 1989 Academy Awards had been handed out and a TV reporter asked a seemingly besotted Kathleen Turner about her co-star Geena Davis's Oscar winning performance. "When you're making a film, can you just tell when one of your fellow actors is turning in an Oscar worthy performance." Kathleen, as seemed her wont at the time, put on an affected Spanish accent and sort of Spanish danced around the question. Neither Turner nor male lead William Hurt had even been nominated for THEIR stellar performances in this celebrated film. In a just world, they probably would have been. But then again, in a truly JUST world, would we even have these stupid Awards.

Of course, there's another very obvious reason why that reporter's question was so stupid: Turner and Davis only share a brief moment onscreen together, and they NEVER actually interact (that we see anyway). Turner may have been viewing some of the rushes, but as for actual first hand impressions of her castmate's performance, how could she possibly have had much to say on that score.

Now I know an actress as outspoken and sometimes downright brazen as Kathleen Turner hardly needs little ol' me to come to her defense, and actually, my main point is a quite different one. What I'd really like to emphasize is that when dealing with a film like ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, one that exhibits such remarkable ENSEMBLE acting, critical focus on just one of the performers actually distorts the public perception of the film's overall quality. The acting, the direction, the cinematography and the script are ALL top notch. There are a great many reasons to see ACCIDENTAL TOURIST. Geena Davis's performance as the eccentric Muriel Pritchett is but one.

I'm sure I'm not the first one to wonder if Davis isn't actually too Hollywood pretty for the role of Muriel. In the book, she comes across as a much less striking figure. Davis wears the clothes--AND the attitude--but she still looks great. If Madonna and Cyndi Lauper hadn't already gone the distance is establishing 1980s "thrift shop chic," Davis might have singlehandedly pulled it off here.

To the filmmakers credit, however, Muriel's stunning good looks are just about the only major departure from Anne Tyler's beautifully crafted novel. If ever there were a text book case on how a script might remain true to the spirit of its source novel, this may be it. The focus is rightly on William Hurt's eccentric and tormented character, the unwilling travel writer, Macon Leary and the two women in his life, his estranged wife Sarah (Turner) and the aforementioned (and equally eccentric) Muriel. But secondary characters, including Macon's three eccentric siblings, his protective (and just as offbeat) publisher-cum-future-brother-in-law, and Muriel's chronically ailing seven year old son are just as lovingly drawn. And they get just enough screen time to win our hearts.

I could only recall one of the book's subplots that got anything like short shrift in the film: Muriel's friendship with a young neighborhood mechanic who shares the use of her car, and in the book, this initially mutually beneficial relationship goes precictably awry. This relationship merits a mention in the film and then gets summarily dropped. It's the kind of cut you can pretty much understand, but readers of the book might well wonder about the wisdom of bringing it up at all. That's quibbling, I know. Viewers who have not read Tyler's book would scarcely notice the mention. And that's as it should be. This is not one of those films where you wonder if this or that allusion in the film was actually a well-developed subplot in the original source novel.

Screenwriter-director Lawrence Kasdan has certainly had his ups and downs over the years. THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST--like other films he has both written and directed (BIG CHILL, GRAND CANYON, MUMFORD)--was decidedly one of the Ups.

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Summary of The Accidental Tourist

After the death of his son macon a travel writer seems to be sleep walking through life. Macons wife is having trouble too & thinks it would be best if the two split up. After macon meets a strange woman who seems to bring him back down to earth macons wife wants to try again. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/08/2005 Starring: William Hurt Geena Davis Run time: 121 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Lawrence Kasdan adapted Anne Tyler's novel into this mopey comedy which, oddly enough, took the New York Film Critics Circle's best picture award (a case of strategic voting getting out of hand). William Hurt plays a depressed travel writer struggling to come to terms with his son's death. He buys a dog for companionship, then hires an eccentric dog trainer (Geena Davis, who won an Oscar for her role) to teach it to behave. She, in turn, teaches him to reconnect to life. But as he is beginning to admit his feelings for her to himself, he is blindsided by the return of his estranged wife (Kathleen Turner), who attempts to rekindle their marriage. A muffled, low-key affair--so low-key that it sometimes seems positively stationary. --Marshall Fine

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