The Accidental Tourist
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Movie Reviews of The Accidental Tourist
Movie Review: A Film that entertains - ultimately Hurt's performance shines
Summary: 4 Stars
When one looks back at the 1980s, one of the great actors has to be considered William Hurt. Back in 1986, he won an Oscar award for "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and also garnered several other Oscar award nominations. 1988 seemed to be Hurt's banner year as he was also nominated for an Oscar for 1987's "Broadcast News". The following year, Hurt also was in another movie that year entitled "The Accidental Tourist". This is a different spin of a male mid-life crisis. His co-star Geena Davis seemed to get most of the accolades, but I think it is Hurt's performance in this film that was the strongest - and perhaps as strong as any role he had taken on to date.
William Hurt plays Macon Leary. Leary is a travel guide writer. The film opens with Macon and his wife Sarah (played by Kathleen Turner who also starred with Hurt in "Body Heat") separating after many years of marriage. Their marriage had broken apart because their 12 year old son had been murdered in a shooting. Following the shooting, Macon had become even more introverted than he usually was - and this is evidenced by his eccentric brothers Porter (played by David Ogden Stiers) and Charles (played by Ed Begely Jr.) as well as his eccentric sister Rose (played by Amy Wright). Sarah moves out and leaves Macon to care for their dog Edward, who is having obedience problems. This is where Macon meets dog-trainer Muriel Pritchett (played by Geena Davis). Muriel is a very forthcoming and outgoing woman who takes a liking to the introverted Macon. Macon is at first very resistant to Muriel, but eventually gets involved with her and takes a liking to her son Alexander. Macon eventually moves in with Muriel and she begins to draw him out of his shell. Muriel eventually starts to push Macon for a commitment and Macon begins to withdraw. Macon and Sarah eventually see each other and Sarah tells him he wants to reconcile putting Macon at a point where he must choose.
There is a very interesting subplot with this movie too. Macon's siblings have a role in the movie too. It seems as though Rose is playing homemaker to the Leary brothers - particularly Porter and Charles. Macon's publisher Julian (played by Bill Pullman) eventually takes a liking to Rose and asks her to marry him. This causes an interesting spin because despite the fact that Rose loves Julian, she still feels the need to take care of her brothers. I really think this was a good subplot and wouldn't have minded this being a more integral part of the movie.
One thing that I thought was a big positive were the settings for the movie. The first 3/4 of the movie was set in the Baltimore, Maryland area while the last part wraps up in Paris, France. This movie shows what a great setting the Baltimore area was. While Macon grew up in suburban Baltimore, Muriel lives in the inner city. The settings seem to work perfectly in contrasting the differences between Macon and Muriel. The way the movie winds up - despite Baltimore being a great setting for the majority of the film, Paris proves to be the better place for the ending
The film does other things to contrast Macon and Muriel. Most notably is the way they dress - Macon is a stodgy. conservative dresser. Meanwhile Muriel is a miniskirt-wearing, trendy dresser. We also see that Muriel wants marriage while Macon is sour on the idea. Yet despite the differences, we see that this couple works well together.
The casting was done very well. I couldn't think of two better people to play the eccentric brothers of Macon Leary than David Ogden Stiers (remember him as Major Winchester from M*A*S*H*?) and Ed Begely Jr. It almost as if these roles were tailor-made for both of these men. Perhaps the most unsung actor in the film though is Bill Pullman. I really enjoyed his role as Macon's publisher Julian. The scene where Edward the dog has Julian up in a tree is a classic. I really wished they gave Julian more screen time. Speaking of Edward the dog - Edward was a real scene stealer. It was disappointing when Edward's role diminishes in the second half of the movie.
As for the performance of Geena Davis - I just didn't get it. I heard so much about this performance for so long. Yet when I saw it - it fell way short of my expectations. Yes she dressed trendy and had this bubbly personality. My reaction - so what? When I looked at Hurt's performance along with Pullman, Ogden Stiers, and Begely Jr, I felt Davis' performance wasn't as strong as the others.
But ultimately it is Hurt who is going to keep this movie moving along. It's kind of funny that Hurt was under 40 years old when he played Macon - he seemed so much older in the movie. Hurt does a great job at blending comedy and drama throughout the movie. One of the most comedic moments of the film occurs when Macon breaks his leg in his basement (with a little help from Edward the dog). Yet, we see a completely serious side to Macon when he shows up at Muriel's door and explains how going out to dinner reminded him of his late son.
I was entertained by the movie, but ultimately I found the ending too predictable - yet satisfying. Because of the many likeable characters throughout the film, I wouldn't have minded a sequel to the film. In fact,the only character I didn't find likeable was Kathleen Turner's role as Sarah. Overall, this is a film that will entertain you from start to finish - highly recommended.
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.
Movie Review: Thought-Provoking, Slow-Paced Conflicted Romance
Summary: 4 Stars
THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST has some of the most interesting dialogue ever heard in a film about relationships. The story begins when Macon Leary, a travel writer played by William Hurt, comes home to find his wife, Sarah, (played by Kathleen Turner) wants a divorce. This marriage has endured almost unbearable strain after the death of their only son, and Macon's coping strategy is to strive to keep things as they are. When Macon's welsh corgi becomes bad-tempered and starts to bite, Macon can't stand the thought of parting with the dog that was his son's childhood companion. Macon is forced to rely on others when he breaks his leg and moves in with his sister and brothers, and the movie really picks up momentum when he meets a sparkling divorcee dog trainer named Muriel Pritchett (played by Geena Davis). Muriel has her eyes on Macon Leary from the first moment she sees him, when she begins a long campaign to win this world-weary man over and bring joy back into his life. When Sarah finds out that Macon is seeing another woman, she has a change of heart about finalizing the divorce, and seeks a reconciliation. Macon's choice then becomes one of maintaining the status quo or navigating his way through uncertain yet exciting territories with someone new.
Both the acting and the dialogue in THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST are first-rate and highly memorable. Geena Davis steals the show with her shining performance of a quirky, life-positive divorced single mom with a single-minded interest in helping Macon Leary to become more than a reluctant sight-seer in life. My favorite line of dialogue in this dialogue-driven film is when Macon says to Sarah, "I'm beginning to think that maybe it's not just how much you love someone, maybe what matters is who you are when you're with them." I've contemplated this concept for years, and been continually inspired by it's significance.
While this film may be considered slow-moving and somewhat sad, it ultimately delivers an uplifting and inspirational message of hope.
Movie Review: Revisiting the Accidental Tourist
Summary: 4 Stars
When this movie was released in 1988 it received much applause from both critics and the public including me. I was much taken with the film then. It does not hold up well on a second viewing now almost 20 years later. Based on the great novel of the same name by Anne Tyler, the film is all about Macon Leary, (William Hurt) a writer of books giving advice to traveling businessmen, who is married to Kathleen Turner. When the movie opens, they are mourning the death of their young son and Turner tells Hurt that she is leaving him and proceeds to do so. Left to his own devices-- with a little help from his dog Edward-- he meets and has a relationship with Geena Davis, a whacky, just-off-center character in love with clothes too funky for Dolly Parton. Hurt, an actor whose work I usually admire greatly-- he was superb in THE KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, for instance-- as the befuddled Macon hardly convinced me that two women would be vying for his affections. This type of character is a lot easier to pull off in a novel than in film. Kathleen Turner is miscast. She is too much like the character she played in BODY HEAT, another film with Hurt and the same director Lawrence Kasdan. The real winners in the film are Geena Davis, who is perfect as this zany character-- she won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role-- and the film would be worth seeing just to watch her performance, and Leary's dog Edward-- and Leary's family consisting of two brothers and a sister who all still live together as adults and raise dysfunctionality to an art form.
There is commentary with the DVD by the director, Davis and Turner in great detail about what the film is all about with nary a word from Mr. Hurt, whatever that means. This is a clear example where the film is not the book, never will be and certainly falls short in comparison.
Movie Review: Can they Do That?
Summary: 4 Stars
Trying to describe this film the term 'novelistic' comes to mind. It seems to inhabit a mythological space, though the use of locations is completely realistic and authentic. It has the feel of a purified space where the commercial world doesn't penetrate. A hermetically sealed realm in which the reactions of characters take precedence over everything else. Kasdan has a knack for getting at the core of a story with consumate subtlety, as he first demonstrated in Body Heat. He distills an atmosphere of stillness and intimacy that permeates every bit of business his actors engage in. There is nothing sensationalistic or overtly dramatic about the film, which maintains its even keeled approach for the duration. Nothing is allowed to distract from the intense focus on character. The Accidental Tourist is leisurely paced and filled with the little details of life, but never drags or fails to keep our attention. It made me marvel.
Hurt and Turner are excellent. Davis is annoying, but I think she's supposed to be.