The Accidental Tourist

Starring:William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Amy Wright, David Ogden Stiers, Ed Begley Jr., Bill Pullman, Robert Hy Gorman, Bradley Mott, Seth Granger, Amanda Houck, Caroline Houck, London Nelson, Gregory Gouyer, William Brown (III), Donald Neal, Peggy Converse, Maureen Kerrigan, Jake Kasdan, Paul Williamson
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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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

Customer Reviews:

The Accidental Tourist.......2007-06-02

My order arrived very quickly and was in perfect shape. It made a fine birthday present for a friend who had just read the book.We had not been able to find a copy of this "oldie" in rental outlets but found it on amazon.Well done.

An excellent romantic movie that follows a supurb novel closely.......2007-05-12

I'm an Anne Tyler fan, and this movie follows her book fairly closely. The cast is great (William Hurt does a fantastic job, and Geena Davis manages to look plain, vulnerable, and sexy all at the same time here). I'll admit that this may be a slower movie for some people, but personally I love the storyline that explores the healing process after a great loss. Truly a great movie, and the DVD comes with lots of extras that are interesting to watch.

Revisiting the Accidental Tourist.......2007-04-05

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.

Relaxing in Baltimore.......2007-03-20

This movie has consistently been one of my favorites since I saw it back in the late 1980s. For whatever reason, the "Leary groove" has been worn between my ears.

Really slow and enjoyable drama. The rain, the death of a son, the closeness of the brothers and sister, the historical homes, and the excellent cast really put you into a slow mood (my favorite kind of mood :). You may even drop a tear or two into your glass of beer.

The only change I would make is for Macon to stay with his wife (probably an unpopular call). Otherwise a flawless Drama. If you enjoy Drama as much as I do, you'll be happy with this one in your collection for years to come.

An O.K. Drama.......2007-03-15

"The Accidental Tourist" was one of the most acclaimed films of 1988. It was nominated for Best Picture and won Geena Davis the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and it marked the reunion of director Lawrence Kasdan with his "Body Heat" stars William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. Of course, The Accidental Tourist is far away from "Body Heat." In this film Hurt plays Macon Leary, the writer of travel guides. His life is presented as an eternally dull trip; he rides in planes to various places and writes about them and, finally, returns home. Both Macon and his wife Sarah (Turner) are still reeling from the death of their young son during a burger joint stickup. When he returns home from his most recent trip, Sarah announces that she's leaving him. After trying to stay in his house alone for awhile, Macon grabs his dog Edward and moves in with his two brothers and sister. Calling the family dysfunctional isn't quite accurate, but they're definitely a little odd. After Edward begins biting people, Macon takes him to a professional. This professional is Muriel (Geena Davis) who takes a liking to Macon. While the rest of the story, from there, is pretty predictable "The Accidental Tourist" is still a really good movie. It's a serious movie that also manages to be really funny, but Kasdan balances the comedy and drama perfectly. This movie has some truly hilarious moments ("Hey. Sorry I'm so fat...") and it's more subtle funny moments. The acting is all superb. Hurt is a rare kind of actor, one that's fascinating to watch no matter what he's doing. Davis is so "spunky" in her part; it's easy to see why she nabbed an Oscar. Despite receiving top billing, Turner has very little screen time in the film. She's in an early scene and then she disappears for over an hour. "The Accidental Tourist" was considered a great film when it was first released, but I think time has made it a "really good" film because so many movies since have followed its formula. I do recommend "The Accidental Tourist" though, because it's a rarely seen gem that is very charming and very well made.

GRADE: B

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