Themes: Existential Crisis, Midlife Crises, Class Differences
Main Cast: Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Steve Martin, Mary McDonnell, Mary-Louise Parker, Alfre Woodard
Release Year: 1991
Country: US
Run Time: 134 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Director Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon is a gathering of random events, uniting the film's wildly divergent protagonists. Driving home from an LA Lakers game, Mack (Kevin Kline), an immigration attorney, is stranded in an unsavory part of town when his car breaks down. He is rescued from a gang of hoods by Simon (Danny Glover), an African-American tow truck driver, inaugurating a friendship between these two men. Mack offers to repay Simon's kindness by helping his sister (Tina Lifford) find an apartment in a better neighborhood, and by arranging a blind date between Simon and Jane (Alfre Woodard), a friend of Mack's secretary Dee (Mary Louise Parker). Woven into this fabric are the tribulations of Mack's best friend, a pompous exploitation movie producer (Steve Martin), who is later wounded in a robbery similar to the one threatening Mack at the beginning of the film; of Mack's wife Claire (Mary McDonnell), who adopts an abandoned baby, and disenfranchised son Roberto (Jeremy Sisto); and of Simon's nephew (Patrick Malone), who is contemplating joining a street gang. The title is symbolic, referring to the class-imposed chasms which would normally separate the characters. Kasdan co-wrote the screenplay with his wife Meg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Lawrence Kasdan's lofty epic about the human condition is hit-or-miss, but when it hits it makes for tantalizing cinema. The film depicts characters on a treacherous search for enlightenment in the City of Angels. Perhaps Kasdan's film is more fantasy than anything else, an attempt to envision a world without violence or class distinction. Grand Canyon evokes other multi-character "meaning of it all" epics such as Nashville (1975) and Magnolia (1999), and though it investigates fate and randomness in a new light, these concepts have been examined more intricately in other directors' efforts. Kasdan does some inventive things cinematically, however, including some innovative, vivid dream sequences. The central moral premise of the film is also fairly revolutionary, portraying people going against the grain to fight the system -- even if it amounts to putting a band-aid on a shotgun wound. ~ Mike DiBella, All Movie Guide
Jeremy Sisto - Roberto; Tina Lifford - Deborah; Patrick Malone - Otis; Jacqueline Alexandra - 1st Forum Twin; Todd Allen - Myers; Kristen Amber - 2nd Forum Twin; John Ashby - Woman's Driver; Shaun Baker - Rocstar; Jeanne Bates - Mrs. Menken; Christopher M. Brown - Rotor; Willie C. Carpenter - Simon's Friend; Gary Cervantes - Watch Robber; Ben Chaney - Young Roberto; Gregg G. Dandridge - Eddie; Steve Davis - Scar; Cora Lee Day - Woman in Car; Destinee de Walt - Kelley; Sam H. Ginsburg - Mr. Menken; Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez - Carlo's Second Friend; Brett Jones - Window-Breaking Thug; Sharon Lee Jones - Studio Girl; Walt Jordan - Deuce Cop; Jack Kehler - Steve Fox; Henry Kingi - Skin; Georgina Lindsey - Cathy Fox; Ben McCreary - Jackson; Candace Mead - Claire's Baby; Loren Mead - Claire's Baby; Randle Mell - Alley Baron; Jim Morange - Bus Driver; Branscombe Richmond - Ace Cop; Hugh Ross - Davis's Assistant; Lynn Salvatori - Woman in Baseball Cap; Deon Sams - Jimmy; Marley Shelton - Amanda; Mary Ellen Trainor - Ms. Green; Sarah Trigger - Vanessa; Basil Wallace - Insurance Salesman; Anne Ward - Davis's Assistant; Carole Ita White - Morning Nurse; Paul Short - Myers's Partner; Jennifer Shull; K. Todd Freeman - Wipe
Credit
Thomas A. Duffield - Art Director, Meg Kasdan - Associate Producer, Aggie Guerard Rodgers - Costume Designer, Michael Grillo - First Assistant Director, Lawrence Kasdan - Director, Carol Littleton - Editor, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), James Newton Howard - Composer (Music Score), Leonard Engelman - Makeup, Robert W. Welch III - Production Designer, Owen Roizman - Cinematographer, Charles Okun - Production Manager, Michael Grillo - Producer, Lawrence Kasdan - Producer, Charles Okun - Producer, Cheryl Carasik - Set Designer, Keith Shartle - Special Effects, David MacMillan - Sound/Sound Designer, Lawrence Kasdan - Screenwriter, Meg Kasdan - Screenwriter, Alex Funke - Visual Effects
An immigration lawyer named Mac finds himself at the mercy of potential muggers when his car breaks down in a bad part of town late at night. The muggers are talked out of victimizing Mac by Simon, a tow-truck driver who arrives just in time. After that night Mac sets out to befriend Simon, despite their having nothing in common. Mac seems unaware that his desire to befriend Simon is actually a form of mid-life crisis, mixed with racial guilt that he is well-off while Simon is struggling financially.
Meanwhile, Mac's wife Claire and best friend Davis are also experiencing life-changing events, when she encounters an abandoned infant as she is jogging and becomes determined to adopt it, he after getting shot in the leg by a man trying to steal his watch. A producer of violent action films, Davis suddenly becomes interested in philosophy more than box-office profits, and announces that he will devote the remainder of his career to eliminating violence from the cinema.
The film chronicles how these characters – as well as various acquaintances, co-workers, and relatives – are affected by their interactions in light of these life-changing events. In the end, all the characters converge at the Grand Canyon on a shared vacation trip, united in a place that's philosophically and actually "bigger" than all their little separate lives.
Responses
Grand Canyon was met with generally positive reviews,[1] but was considered a minor failure at the box office,[2] and did not reap notable profits until it was released on video. Noted film critics Siskel and Ebert both loved the film, placing it at the #4 (Ebert) and #6 (Siskel) positions on their 1991 top ten lists.
Marlee Matlin plays an uncredited role; she is a mom using sign language to communicate with her child as several youths are being sent off to camp.
Randle Mell, real-life husband of Mary McDonnell, is a homeless man that Claire encounters while jogging.
Marley Shelton can be seen in one of her first roles as Roberto's girlfriend at camp.
Lawrence Kasdan plays an uncredited role; he is berating Davis for cutting out a "money shot" (a close-up of blood and brains hitting a window) from a particularly violent action scene in one of Davis' movies.
Production notes
Phil Collins' song "Both Sides of the Story" references the scene where the young mugger tells Simon that he carries a gun to make sure people respect (and fear) him.
Davis' character is based on aggressive action film producer Joel Silver.
