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The Accidental Tourist (1988)

PG | Comedy, Drama, Romance

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The Accidental Tourist (1988)

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After the death of his son, travel writer Macon Leary seems to be sleep walking through life. Macon's wife is having similar problems. They separate, and Macon meets a strange, outgoing woman who brings him 'back down to earth', but his wife soon thinks their marriage is still worth another try.

Lawrence Kasdan

Director, Screenplay

Frank Galati

Top Billed Cast

William Hurt

Macon Leary

Kathleen Turner

Sarah Leary

Geena Davis

Muriel Pritchett

David Ogden Stiers

Porter Leary

Ed Begley Jr.

Charles Leary

Bill Pullman

Julian Hedge

Robert Hy Gorman

Bradley Mott

Lucas Loomis

Full Cast & Crew

• Discussions 1

A review by Peter McGinn

Written by peter mcginn on april 5, 2020.

** I recently watched this movie again after several years and will add just a few small edits *** This is a quiet and quirky movie, and may not appeal to some viewers. Certainly it differs from 95% of the movies being made these days. But what the heck, our tastes are all different, right?

William Hurt gives the restrained performance the role calls for, playing a man who has disconnected from his feelings so as to avoid the pain of thinking of his deceased son. He writes travel books for people who don't want to "go local" when they travel to other countries, but rather want to feel as co... read the rest.

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Status Released

Original Language English

Revenue $32,632,093.00

• paris, france
• sibling relationship
• based on novel or book
• baltimore, usa
• dog trainer
• travel writer
• loss of child

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The Accidental Tourist

Cast & crew.

William Hurt

Kathleen Turner

Geena Davis

Bill Pullman

A mature, well-made film for teens and adults.

• Average 7.2

Information

© 1988 Miramax. All Rights Reserved.

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The Accidental Tourist

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Brief Synopsis

Cast & crew, lawrence kasdan, william hurt, william brown, bradley mott, david ogden stiers, technical specs.

A writer of travel books sees his world turned upside down when his son dies, his wife leaves him, and he meets an unusual dog trainer.

Amanda Houck

Jonathan kasdan, paul williamson, todd adelman, cheryl carasik.

Kathleen Turner

Walter sparrow, ed begley jr., jake kasdan, david q combs, neana n collins.

Geena Davis

Gregory gouyer, roland riallot, robert hy gorman, donald neal, caroline houck, thomas paolucci, seth granger, peggy converse, audrey rapoport, london nelson, maureen kerrigan.

Bill Pullman

Donald abblett, frankie adams, george h anderson, andy andrews, dominique-anne arquillier, jean-yves asselin, christine baer, john bailey, louis barlia, eric bartonio, steph benseman, beth bergeron, neil binney, veronique bourboulon, steve bowerman, billy brashier, norman burza, vincent callahan, greg callas, phyllis carlyle, lisa zeno churgin, brenda dabbs, jean-jacques damiani, isabelle dassonville, raúl dávalos, jimmy davis, e carey dietrich, richard dobson, r scott doran, tom duffield, stephen p dunn, leonard engelman, john flemming, andrew m. flinn, james e foote, frank galati, sara gardner, julie glanfield, nigel gostelow, granville greene, robert grieve, michael grillo, francoise guernier, lynda gurasich, sally hayman, wilt henderson, christian hereau, simon hinkly, john hoeren, tim hutchinson, gerard james, jack johnson, wilbur jones, kevin kertscher, gary kieldrup, neil kingsbury, michael m krevitt, larry lennert, carol littleton, andre loisif, david macmillan, fenella maguire, john malkovich, gavin marrable, denis martin, gail martin-sheridan, cindy marty, linda matthews, carol mccullough, ron mcleish, david j mcmillan, chuck mcsorley, joe mercurio, donald o mitchell, michael moyer, john murray, nick navarro, edward r. nedin, stephanie ng, wallis nicita, terry nightingall, kevin o'connell, david o'ferrall, charles okun, grant olson, daniel l ondrejko, jean orjollet, robert perez, wendolyn peterson, bill petrotta, felix placenti, germinal rangel, robert raring, michael redding, danis regal-o'connell, cricket rowland, jean-pierre ruh, peter rutherford, george r schrader, mary selway, laurie shane, frank smathers, paul sonski, herbert spencer, stacy starr, arnold stone, kimberly street, jim sweeney, daniel szuster, jeffrey s thorin, marlene tommasi, albert vasseur, gerard viard, jurgen vollmer, keith vowles, ken wannberg, john warnke, constance west, george whitear, linda whittlesey, foard wilgis, john williams, joanne zaluski, best supporting actress, award nominations, best adapted screenplay, best picture.

Miscellaneous Notes

Voted Best Picture of the Year (1988) by the New York Film Critics Circle.

William Hurt won a 1989 Golden Horse Award in Taiwan.

Winner of the second annual Scripter Award, given by the Friends of the University of Southern California (USC) Libraries, for the best film adaptation of a book.

Released in United States July 9, 1989

Released in United States on Video June 28, 1989

Released in United States Winter December 23, 1988

Shown at Moscow International Film Festival (in competition) July 9, 1989.

Began shooting November 9, 1987.

Released in United States July 9, 1989 (Shown at Moscow International Film Festival (in competition) July 9, 1989.)

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the accidental tourist.

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"Yes, that is my son," the man says, identifying the body in the intensive care unit. Grief threatens to break his face into pieces, and then something closes shut inside of him. He has always had a very controlled nature, fearful of emotion and revelation, but now a true ice age begins, and after a year his wife tells him she wants a divorce. It is because he cannot seem to feel anything.

"The Accidental Tourist" begins on that note of emotional sterility, and the whole movie is a journey toward a smile at the end.

The man's name is Macon Leary ( William Hurt ), and he writes travel books for people who detest traveling. He advises his readers on how to avoid human contact, where to find "American food" abroad and how to convince themselves they haven't left home. His own life is the same sort of journey, and maybe it began in childhood. His sister and two brothers still live together in the house where they were born, and any life outside of their routine would be unthinkable.

Macon's wife ( Kathleen Turner ) moves out, leaving him with the dog, Edward, who does like to travel and is deeply disturbed by the curious life his masters have provided for him. He barks at ghosts and snaps at strangers. It is time for Macon to make another one of his overseas research trips, so he takes the dog to be boarded at a kennel, and that's where he meets Muriel Pritchett ( Geena Davis ). Muriel has Macon's number from the moment he walks through the door. She can see he's a basket case, but she thinks she can help. She also thinks her young son needs a father.

Macon isn't so sure. He doesn't use the number she gives him. But later, when the dog trips him and he breaks his leg, he takes Edward back to the kennel, and this time he submits to a little obedience training of his own. He agrees to acknowledge that Muriel exists, and before long they are sort of living together (lust still exists in his body, but it lurks so far from the center of his feelings that sex hardly seems to cheer him up).

The peculiarity about these central passages in the film is that they are quite cheerful and sometimes even very funny, even though Macon himself is mired in a deep depression. Davis, as Muriel, brings an unforced wackiness to her role in scenes like the one where she belts out a song while she's doing the dishes. But she is not as simple as she sometimes seems, and when Macon gets carried away with a little sentimental generalizing about the future, she warns him, "Don't make promises to my son that you are not prepared to keep." There is also great good humor in the characters in Macon's family: brothers Porter ( David Ogden Stiers ) and Charles ( Ed Begley Jr.) and sister Rose ( Amy Wright ), a matriarch who feeds the family, presides over their incomprehensible card games and supervises such traditional activities as alphabetizing the groceries on the kitchen shelves. One evening Macon takes his publisher, Julien ( Bill Pullman ), home to dinner and Julien is struck with a thunderbolt of love for Rose. He eventually marries her, but a few weeks later Julien tells Macon that Rose has moved back home with the boys; she was concerned that they had abandoned regular meals and were eating only gorp.

This emergency triggers the movie's emotional turning point, which is subtle but unmistakable. Nobody knows Rose as well as Macon does, and so he gives Julien some very particular advice: "Call her up and tell her your business is going to pieces. Ask if she could just come in and get things organized. Get things under control. Put it that way.

Use those words. Get things under control, tell her." In context, this speech is hilarious. It is also the first time in the film that Macon has been able to extend himself to help anybody, and it starts him on the road to emotional growth. Clinging to the sterility and loneliness that has been his protection, he doesn't realize at first that he has turned the corner. He still doubts that he needs Muriel, and when she buys herself a ticket and follows him to Paris, he refuses to have anything to do with her. When his wife also turns up in Paris, there is a moment when he thinks they may be able to patch things together again, and then finally Macon arrives at the sort of moment he has been avoiding all of his life: He has to make a choice. But by then the choice is obvious; he has already made it, by peeking so briefly out of his shell.

The screenplay for "The Accidental Tourist," by Kasdan and Frank Galati , is able to reproduce a lot of the tone and dialogue of the Anne Tyler novel without ever simply being a movie version of a book. The textures are too specific and the humor is too quirky and well-timed to be borrowed. The filmmakers have reinvented the same story in their own terms. The movie is a reunion for Kasdan, Hurt and Turner, who all three launched their careers with " Body Heat " (1981). Kasdan used Hurt again in " The Big Chill " (1983) and understands how to employ Hurt's gift for somehow being likable at the same time he seems to be withdrawn.

What Hurt achieves here seems almost impossible: He is depressed, low-key and intensely private through most of the movie, and yet somehow he wins our sympathy. What Kasdan achieves is just as tricky; I've never seen a movie so sad in which there was so much genuine laughter. "The Accidental Tourist" is one of the best films of the year.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

The Accidental Tourist (1989)

121 minutes

Kathleen Turner as Sarah

William Hurt as MacOn

Ed Begley Jr. as Charles

David Ogden Stiers as Porter

Geena Davis as Muriel

Amy Wright as Rose

Bill Pullman as Julian

Robert Gorman as Alexander

Bradley Mott as Mr. Loomis

Screenplay by

• Frank Galati
• John Williams

Photographed by

• John Bailey

Produced by

• Charles Okun
• Michael Grillo
• Carol Littleton

Based On The Novel by

Directed by.

• Lawrence Kasdan

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After the death of his son, travel writer Macon Leary seems to be sleep walking through life. Macon's wife is having similar problems. They separate, and Macon meets a strange, outgoing woman who brings him 'back down to earth', but his wife soon thinks their marriage is still worth another try.

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The Accidental Tourist

Is it a modern classic? I think so. Lawrence Kasdan’s best movie embraces characters often lampooned, dismissed, or stereotyped as kooks — introverts, extroverts, people trying to make personal connections and those trying to avoid them. William Hurt finds his best role and Geena Davis won an Oscar for hers; thirty years later the entire cast feel like beloved friends.

The Accidental Tourist Blu-ray The Warner Archive Collection 1988 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date May 8, 2017 / Available from the The Warner Archive Collection Movies Store 29.95 Starring: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Amy Wright, David Ogden Stiers, Ed Begley Jr., Bill Pullman. Cinematography: John Bailey Production Designer: Bo Welch Film Editor: Carol Littleton Original Music: John Williams Written by Frank Galatiand Lawrence Kasdan from the book by Anne Tyler Produced by Phyllis Carlyle, Michael Grillo, Lawrence Kasdan, John Malkovich, Charles Okun Directed by Lawrence Kasdan

Some of my favorite movies are shows I had to be dragged out of the house to see. I was carried away by the vivid characters of The Accidental Tourist , and left the theater feeling as if I knew them personally. Lawrence Kasdan’s picture is among the best of light romances, alongside movies that generate positive feelings about people. As highly accessible examples, Powell & Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going! and Wilder & Diamond’s The Apartment come to mind. Charming and funny, Tourist looks at the quiet introverts and sensitive souls that movies normally make fun of. Its drama hooks us from the start.

This is by far Lawrence Kasdan’s best film as writer or director. It’s consistently amusing yet always serious. His superb cast is led by Geena Davis’ wonderful portrait of an odd, warmly caring woman who takes on the job of breaking a good man out of a crippling emotional shell.

The story takes its time introducing its characters. Travel book writer Macon Leary (William Hurt) has descended into non-communicative isolation following the death of his son a year before. His wife Sarah (Kathleen Turner) leaves him, so Macon moves back in with his kindly but eccentric siblings, removing him even further from the need to live like a normally, engaging with strangers. Enter dog trainer Muriel Pritchett (Geena Davis), a pushy, captivating oddball who sets her cap for Macon in an instant. Can she communicate with a man who shrinks from all interpersonal involvement, and has forgotten how to express his own feelings?

The Accidental Tourist has comedy, tragedy, kooky people, a slow pace and a dry sense of humor. Its main characters are over thirty. They live quiet lives dealing with their problems and working to make ends meet. They try their best to be fair to each other. Nobody wears a sign reading ‘deserving hero’ or ‘meddling outsider.’ In other words, the emotional relationships in Anne Tyler’s original story acknowledge the mundane complexities of real life. As we begin to understand these people, our reward is a heightened compassion.

Kasdan’s show presents some challenging characters, to say the least. Macon Leary begins as an insensate lump, functioning just well enough to write his travel guides for people that don’t want to travel. Everything about Muriel Pritchett is forward, intrusive, and loud. She’s a true original, making her way with an adventurous spirit and an unusual fashion sense. Her impatience lets us know she needs to find the right person, right now. Viewers that prefer their characterizations broad and simple may become restless; Tourist requires a more inquisitive attitude.

When he’s alone, Macon Leary has serious motivation trouble. Just doing his chores becomes an exercise in will power. Sarah overdoses on Macon’s emotional deadness; neither of them has recovered from the death of their son, a murder victim. She tries living alone, perhaps to see if Macon will snap back to life in her absence. He instead retreats to an earlier life of secure predictability back home. It’s cozy but unhealthy, with one divorced sibling and two unmarried ones, all back together and feeding off one another’s collective eccentricities.

Sister Rose (Amy Wright) is an obsessive who derives pleasure from absurd over-organization; brothers Porter (David Ogden Stiers) and Charles (Ed Begley Jr.) live comatose lives where nothing changes and the most important task is to see that nothing ever does. When they decide the phone is a bother, they stop answering it. Macon’s new girlfriend Muriel and Rose’s new suitor Julian (Bill Pullman) are treated as intruders, unknown factors that might disturb the status quo.

Tourist  gives all of these people sensitive personalities. Many would see Macon as rude and boorish, and Rose’s painful honesty would certainly tag her as a social misfit: “You’re just trying to keep me from my last chance at love.”   So thank heaven for the romantics that keep trying. Outsiders Muriel Pritchett and Julian must swim against a current of disapproval and rejection. It takes a special sensitivity to reach such insular people, to break through emotional scar tissue and the mixed signals of apathy and distraction.

That The Accidental Tourist can maintain this intimate tone is a storytelling miracle.  Tyler, Galati and Kasdan — and especially editrix Carol Littleton — make skillful use of amusing narrative devices. Macon’s adventure-killing travel advice is to avoid anything new or unpredictable, especially other humans. His defensive rules provide a wry counterpoint to ordinary scenes: “Don’t get attached to items you might find during your trip; think of how awkward and inconvenient they may become later on.”   Macon’s nervous disorder becomes clear through his Corgi dog, Edward. A direct connection to the lost son, Edward senses Macon’s disharmony and starts biting people.

William Hurt communicates depths of feeling with a minimum of actorly effects. His co-star from Kasdan’s Body Heat Kathleen Turner handles her role with equal sensitivity. Everyone in Tourist is accorded respect as an individual. The standout supporting player may be Amy Wright, with her portrait of a woman that anywhere else would be caricatured as a fussy spinster. Ms. Wright can be seen in highly affecting roles in pictures as diverse as   Breaking Away ,   Wise Blood   and   Inside Moves .  She makes a strong impression in The Deer Hunter   with very little screen time.

Geena Davis’s Oscar win is that rare exception when a special performance is justly rewarded. Her Muriel Pritchett starts out as an angular kook, like Shelley Duvall’s Olive Oyl in Popeye . But Muriel has an understanding of unstable personalities, starting with Macon’s dog. She’s undeniably courageous, considering her determination to win over a man who repeatedly rejects her agenda. Muriel’s startling costumes and makeup pop out of Macon’s gray world like a sign of hope in the fog. Muriel is a vulnerable woman with serious problems. She wins over viewers convinced that attractive people are by definition exempt from everyday woes.

The Accidental Tourist pulls us in with its sensitive tone. We watch these faces for hints and clues just as we watch the real people in our lives. Their thoughts and ‘themes’ aren’t telegraphed through grand gestures or clever dialogue. Aiding this process is the sensitive music score by John Williams, which I think is one of his best. Never resorting to coy noodling or cute effects, its vibrating strings set a tone of yearning and need, and let us know that these characters won’t be abandoned.

Critic Robin Wood would surely categorize The Accidental Tourist as a ‘theraputic film’ charting the healing process of an emotionally wounded person. Unlike the prime example Vertigo , Kasdan adds no genre twists or Gothic ironies, just the hope that happiness is possible.

Macon eventually ends up in a foreign country, trapped in a small room and forced to finally sort out the ‘unwanted baggage’ in his life. The therapy works, and Sarah and Muriel will no longer have to idle in suspense. The film celebrates the yearnings of ordinary, isolated people in a way that lifts our spirits. When I saw the show in a crowded theater one could hear a pin drop, and then there was applause.

The Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray of The Accidental Tourist is now much improved on Blu-ray. The transfer is more sensitive to the moody colors of the original — some flashback scenes are purposely cold and greenish, while much of Macon Leary’s daily life is spent in relative darkness. Everything associated with Sarah seems to be earth tones, and then Muriel shows up, as jolting as piece of modern art.

The excellent old extras have been ported over intact, as is Warners’ custom. Lawrence Kasdan is on camera for an introduction and a spoiler-laden docu that should be avoided before seeing the film. The docu has interviews with Kasdan, Turner and Davis. It starts by merely restating the film’s plot but soon gets into more rewarding content. Geena Davis provides a partial commentary track that skips around the film, and is perhaps a half hour long. This allows her to address her hiring, the character, the way the film was shot and her glorious Oscar night story without having to hurry up or slow down. Ms. Davis is a delightful personality and great fun to listen to.

Eighteen deleted scenes fill in plot points and connect dots in the timeline. What’s that new sofa doing in Macon’s house? What happened to Muriel’s car? Two supporting characters have been dropped, Macon’s mother and Muriel’s mechanic/babysitter friend Dominick. I couldn’t make casting IDs for either actor. Shrewd editorial judgment was exercised to cull this often-good material.

Carol Littleton’s editorial wisdom extends to some re-shooting and telescoping of early scenes — the originals we see here are played at a much higher level of tension. To recognize this and reshoot the beginning was inspired, as The Accidental Tourist now opens more quietly, letting the drama creep up on us.

One excised scene was likely dropped because it made Macon appear too unstable — he suffers a panic attack at the top of the World Trade Center. It explains exactly how Macon first called Muriel, filling a hole in the fabric of the finished film. When we see his first fearful look at the tall towers and share his stratospheric tower-top view of the East River, we experience a faint panic attack of our own. That’s the 9/11 effect, I suppose.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

The Accidental Tourist Blu-ray rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent Supplements: featurette, intro, deleted scenes, trailer, Geena Davis part-commentary. Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? YES ; Subtitles: English (feature only) Packaging: One Blu-ray in Keep case Reviewed: May 1, 2017 (5406tour)

Final product for this review was provided free by The Warner Archive Collection.

Visit CineSavant’s Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: [email protected]

Text © Copyright 2017 Glenn Erickson

About Glenn Erickson

Glenn Erickson left a small town for UCLA film school, where his spooky student movie about a haunted window landed him a job on the CLOSE ENCOUNTERS effects crew. He’s a writer and a film editor experienced in features, TV commercials, Cannon movie trailers, special montages and disc docus. But he’s most proud of finding the lost ending for a famous film noir, that few people knew was missing. Glenn is grateful for Trailers From Hell’s generous offer of a guest reviewing haven for CineSavant.

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The accidental tourist.

1988 Directed by Lawrence Kasdan

After the death of his son, travel writer Macon Leary seems to be sleep walking through life. Macon's wife is having similar problems. They separate, and Macon meets a strange, outgoing woman who brings him 'back down to earth', but his wife soon thinks their marriage is still worth another try.

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 Bill Lee Brown Donald Neal Peggy Converse Maureen Kerrigan Jake Kasdan Paul Williamson Walter Sparrow Todd J. Adelman Meg Kasdan David Q. Combs Jonathan Kasdan Thomas Paolucci Neana N. Collins Roland Riallot Audrey Rapoport

Director Director

Lawrence Kasdan

Producers Producers

Lawrence Kasdan Charles Okun Michael Grillo

Writers Writers

Lawrence Kasdan Frank Galati

Original Writer Original Writer

Casting casting.

Wallis Nicita

Editor Editor

Carol Littleton

Cinematography Cinematography

John Bailey

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

John Malkovich Phyllis Carlyle

Production Design Production Design

Art direction art direction.

Tom Duffield

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Cricket Rowland

Stunts Stunts

Composer composer.

John Williams

Costume Design Costume Design

Makeup makeup.

Leonard Engelman Vincent Callaghan

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Lynda Gurasich

Warner Bros. Pictures

Releases by Date

Theatrical limited, 23 dec 1988, 03 jan 1989, 06 jan 1989, 24 feb 1989, 10 mar 1989, 05 apr 1989, releases by country.

• Theatrical PG
• Theatrical U
• Theatrical M/12
• Theatrical limited PG

121 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Sam Meltzer ★★ 9

An extremely bland and forgettable movie with one of the worst color pallets I’ve ever seen. You’d think that the screenplay and the performances would be strong but you can tell that no one clearly cared even in the slightest so BRAVA!! Of course the Oscars nominated it… 😒

Review by Mary Conti 2

**Part of the Best Picture Project**

In which Geena Davis plays a quirky woman who seems to have very little of a life beyond her desire to get William Hurt out his depression and see the value of life again.

IF ONLY THERE WAS A TROPE TO DESCRIBE THIS KIND OF WOMAN.

Review by DNA cinephile🏳️‍🌈 ★★★★

The Accidental Tourist. 1988. Directed by Lawrence Kasdan.

Lawrence Kasdan’s screenplay of Anne Tyler’s book is brilliant. The script was well written. However, Geena Davis could have been given more lines. Nevertheless, in my opinion, Davis’s character Muriel was the best medicine for Hurt’s character Macon. Macon’s son died and due to this Macon was extremely depressed. In addition, his wife Sarah portrayed by Kathleen Turner asked for separation. Macon continues grinding away at life but not thriving until he meets Muriel who has a son of her own named Alexander. 

With the aforementioned variables at play, the film moves with great cinematography and an adequate score. This is not an action packed suspense or thriller but, it is a…

Review by Luke Bonanno ★★★½ 1

Lawrence Kasdan was a busy guy in the 1980s. In addition to penning a trio of iconic blockbuster screenplays for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, he wrote and directed a number of his own films. Two of those films went on to compete for major Academy Awards, the better known of which is the Boomer-defining 1983 dramedy The Big Chill .

Kasdan's other Oscar contender, 1988's The Accidental Tourist , is one of the decade's many forgotten awards movies. It won Geena Davis the Best Supporting Actress Oscar and competed for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay and yet it is a film that no one discusses or recommends or even considers including in a Best of the '80s retrospective.

I'm struggling…

Review by Dylan ★★½

“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.”

This is unquestionably a forgotten film of American cinema. Since I don't see many people logging it on here, I wanted to watch it for myself and give my unsolicited opinion. The plot is surprisingly gripping, and the film has strong dialogue and a solid script. While subtle in nature, which might bore others, I did not find this aspect to be a major issue. I enjoyed how the film examined the various meanings of love and conveyed the idea that you don't really have to live life according to a schedule. However, I thought…

Review by claireeliza ★★★ 1

William Hurt: "oh no woe is me Geena Davis and Kathleen Turner are fighting over me pls help me"

Review by Lebowskidoo 🇨🇦 🎬 🍿 ★★★★

"It's wrong to think we could plan everything, as though it were a business trip. I don't believe that anymore. Things just happen."

This is a quiet little movie. Sure, it won awards and has movie stars, but it's still just a simple, soft-spoken story, not the usual Hollywood flash. It's a comedy/drama, dipping a toe in both equally, like life itself, I suppose.

William Hurt plays Macon Leary, a travel writer whose son has died tragically and then his wife leaves him. His dog, a corgi named Edward (the real star of the show, a major scene-stealing fuzzball), has not been the same since Mason's son died. Enter Muriel, a kooky dog trainer, who takes an instant liking to…

Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★

After the passing of his son in a shooting, a man's life whose work is tour around around the world starts to crumble down but there might be life at the end of the tunnel.

Before there was "Solo: A Star Wars Story," Lawrence Kasdan wrote a movie that encapsulates to perfection the word average. Its hard to call this romantic movie, a bad movie, but its also hard to call it good. The script has his moments, there are some endearment and cute moments, but it felt all generic.

Performances are serviceable, though if you are really into dogs you might get pissed at Geena Davis' character's form of training, which often than not borderlines into the realm of animal cruelty.

All in all, if you are seriously into romantic movies from the 80s, you may enjoy this, otherwise I guess you can skip this.

Review by Christian Ryan 11

I’m sorry, but unless Lawrence Kasdan is working off a George Lucas story, with ample pulp to drown out the pretention, his writing just comes off as fucking unbearable to me. I bailed on this after 45 minutes to go listen to my ten-year-old practice violin. She’s been playing for about three days now, and shows zero inclination for the instrument, but still manages to make better noise with it than this overrated hack can make with his pen.

Review by Colin the dude ★★★ 6

Are we just never going to talk about William Hurt being in 5 Best Picture nominees in 6 years? And this was when you were limited to 5 slots. Brad Pitt starred in 4 consecutive nominees but 3 of those were when the field was widened to up to 10 films. Bill Hurt was on an Oscar bait tear in the 80s and everyone's forgotten it.

Review by Scout Tafoya ★★★★

Absolutely offensive that when you search for William Hurt on here the first things that show up are those hideously chintzy Marvel posters. Also wanted to say Hurt could still show up in Robin Hood or The King's Daughter and make those movies great for a few seconds.

www.rogerebert.com/tributes/william-hurt-1950-2022

This is a movie that makes for a fascinating time capsule now (Bill Pullman doesn't have the voice yet!). Pretty amazing to think there were once movies about relationships and loss that were only occasionally hamstrung by an overeager subtext. Shot competently if not particularly expressively, with an eye towards rendering environments in as melancholy a fashion possible in order to reflect the mental state of our sad sack hero.…

Review by Cole Duffy ★½

Genuinely awful. The best performance comes from the dog.

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Produced by, released by, the accidental tourist (1988), directed by lawrence kasdan.

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The Accidental Tourist Reviews

This eccentric family invented by Anne Tyler leaves the page finding strange new life with screenwriter/director Lawrence Kasdan. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jun 15, 2022

It's perfect in every way -- like Lost In Translation, The Piano and a few others, it's the sort of intimate movie that irrevocably touches certain viewers while leaving the rest shrugging their shoulders.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 28, 2021

As a comedy, Accidental Tourist is smart, witty and sophisticated.

Full Review | Oct 11, 2019

It has that slow rhythm, but without calm, very much to the taste of its director. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Sep 4, 2019

The strength of the film is that of the novel: an intoxicating brew of irresistable characters.

Full Review | Dec 9, 2017

The emotional complexities unearthed are distinctly adult.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 16, 2015

The film tries so hard to be funny, but ends up feeling like a rejected Woody ALlen script idea.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 15, 2011

A mature, well-made film for teens and adults.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 2, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 8, 2008

Kasdan's film lacks the spirit of Tyler's novel; he seems to be the wrong director to translate the author's affectionate and humorous treatment of the characters. Fortunately, Geena Davis as the eccentric dog-walker elevates the otherwise morose mood.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Jul 2, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 27, 2005

A genuinely beautiful and human story out of the Hollywood mills. Subtly amazing work from all concerned.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jun 4, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 17, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Feb 5, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 8, 2004

This is a warm movie told in the temperature of almost-recognizable life; it's a believable love story, joked up a bit but not too much.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Apr 20, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jan 24, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 5, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 22, 2003

Beautifully-acted comedy-drama that doesn't overdose on its quirks.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 14, 2003