Bergorks
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Danny Blankenship
Finally on my plate I got around to seeing 1988's romantic drama "The Accidental Tourist" for one I had high interest since I always enjoyed the work of Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis as both were very sexy screen ladies in their day and for what I've seen of the work of William Hurt it's above average so the chemistry made this picture a winner.The story based from an Anne Tyler best seller involves Macon Leary(William Hurt)as a writer who publishes travel guides and he gives advice on trips that people take and he has his own side baggage of emotions as still he's dealing with the freak murder of his son just a little boy. Plus he's just getting ready for a divorce from his trophy wife named Sarah(the elegant and attractive Kathleen Turner).Along the way this film becomes a new journey of life for Macon as it's a fun and tender film of love, life, regret, and stopping to reflect as Macon takes his time before changes happen. To spice things up Macon's a dog lover so when he meets his new dog sitter and trainer Muriel(Geena Davis)a sparkle is in her eyes for passion, slowly but surely it happens still Macon will sample his plate for romantic taste before he makes the choice between her or Sarah.The love triangle is back and fourth it shows and proves that passion can change and it shows that love travels and takes tours just like matters of the heart. Overall good well done serious film of change and making choices about matters of the heart.
FilmCriticLalitRao
The death in a family is viewed as an irreparable loss which affects everybody.In such a case,it is a wrong decision for a couple to fight with each other and separate.It would be better if the couple stays together to support each other in times of crisis.It is on these lines that American director Lawrence Kasdan's film "The Accidental Tourist" informs viewers about how wrong choices are corrected by a solitary man when he meets a talkative woman who would like to move ahead in life with him and her son.Although the film is not based on an original screenplay nevertheless it is able to interest viewers as its tone is light.There are various little episodes in these two people's lives which make for an interesting viewing experience.Apart from the leading man who writes travel guides,there are also other people seeking love.It is this story development which gives "The Accidental Tourist" a different edge as it has been promoted as a sad film.
robert-temple-1
I decided to watch this film again after many years, and it impressed me more now than it did when it came out. It is a very sensitive film based upon a novel published in 1985 (of the same title) by the well-known American novelist Anne Tyler (born 1941), a denizen of Baltimore. The characters of this novel are also from Baltimore, which some regard as the Centre of the Earth, by which I refer primarily to those innocents who have not seen THE WIRE (2002, see my review). William Hurt gives one of his brilliant performances (which seem to come so naturally to him) as Macon Leary, an up-tight and hopelessly stuffy author of travel guides for Americans who do not like to leave America and wish to travel in their bubble, thus protecting themselves from all contaminating influences such as foreigners or even people from another city such as Philadelphia. But to give an idea of how hopeless an isolationist Leary is, we see him eating disgusting hamburgers at a Burger King in Paris, which he will in turn recommend to his readers. Leary will guide timorous Americans to Burger Kings and other such horrible places wherever they are in the world, so that they need never eat anything strange. In a voice-over in this film, he says of French restaurants and their menus of the day: 'Avoid Prix Fixe. It forces you to eat all those courses you don't want.' One presumes that Tyler is being gently satirical in inventing this character (let us hope he never really existed and is a caricature). Leary's series of books are called 'The Accidental Tourist', hence the title of the film. And as for Leary himself, he is an accidental tourist of Life. Meanwhile, Leary's accidentally toured life has been devastated by the death of his only son, and he has been savaged by grief. His wife, played by Kathleen Turner, leaves him at the beginning of the story to live in a separate flat and go her own way, as she says he has not yet come to terms with his grief and she can no longer live with him. Thus, he lives alone in his house with the most charming actor in the film, a dog called Bud, who plays the dog in the film. I would greatly like to have Bud come and live with me! However, as the film was made 26 years ago, perhaps he is no longer about. I like all dog films, and this to a larger extent than one might imagine is a dog film. It is Bud's lack of good behaviour which brings Leary into contact with the charmingly eccentric character Muriel (whom Leary later describes as 'that odd girl'), who is a dog trainer, and who becomes his romantic muse and saviour. This character is played by the wonderfully odd actress Geena Davis, one of my favourites. The film she made just before this one, in the same year, was EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY (1988, see my review), which I think of as one of the funniest films ever made, and Davis's central performance in it made it work. Never having met Davis, I can only presume that in order to play these wacky and offbeat characters to such perfection, she must be pretty odd herself. However, she rid herself of these anomalies when she played the President of the United States in the excellent TV series COMMANDER IN CHIEF (2005), in which her performance was, well, 'commanding', and it won her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV drama. It is a great pity that the rather weird and wonderful Geena Davis has not made many more films than she has, but she won a well deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, which shows that she has been appreciated by her peers (as do her countless other awards). She also resembles the goddess Diana (aka Artemis) in that she is an archery champion, and having been married four times, she clearly takes good aim at the heart. If she were ever to 'come up to see me sometime', I could show her my long bow which my grandfather lovingly carved out of lemonwood from South America because he said it had the best qualities (his idea being that he would be making the Stradivarius of long bows). No mere yew for him! Long bows are so much more romantic than etchings. Another excellent actress who appears in this film is Amy Wright, who does a brilliant job of portraying Leary's eccentric sister Rose. The film is essentially a study of people who 'don't fit'. Sometimes they don't fit in a good way and sometimes they don't fit in a bad way. So Tyler seems to be excavating the American psyche to find divergences from the norm, which is an important thing to do in a country where 'normality' ranks second only the 'the dollar' theologically speaking. This film was directed by the highly talented Lawrence Kasdan, who knows a good nuance when he sees one. And in this film we see plenty of them.
pontifikator
This is a remarkably good film, with a strong woman's role (Muriel) for Geena Davis, an excellent actress. William Hurt plays a travel writer (Macon) who hates to travel. His son was killed in a traffic accident, and the stress has led his character to separate from his wife (Sarah, played by Kathleen Turner). He returns to his family home, where his brothers and sister live, and you meet a stunningly civil, stunningly dysfunctional family. Muriel is very off the wall and just the relief Macon needs. Their growth toward each other, and Macon's recovery from the grief of his loss is subtly and well done.The contrast between Davis's character and the one played by Helen Hunt in "As Good as It Gets" merits thoughtful consideration. In this film, Muriel won't settle for Macon as he is when they meet. Muriel is a competent adult, not a needy woman. If Macon grows and meets her halfway, fine. If not, that's fine, too -- Muriel won't accept the emotionally crippled Macon. There are very few roles where women are written as strong, competent actors instead of passive accepters. ("Silence of the Lambs" comes to mind as another such movie, both for Clarice Starling and for Catherine Martin, the victim that traps Buffalo Bill's dog and uses it as a bargaining chip.)
