Themes: Starting Over, Breakups and Divorces, Death of a Child
Main Cast: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Amy Wright, Bill Pullman
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 121 minutes
Plot
Director Lawrence Kasdan and Frank Galati adapted their screenplay for The Accidental Tourist from Anne Tyler's novel. William Hurt plays Macon Leary, a well-known "travel advisor" headquartered in Baltimore. The tragic death of Leary's son causes him to withdraw from the world, which in turn prompts his wife (Kathleen Turner) to walk out on him. Recuperating from a broken leg, Leary moves in with his sister (Amy Wright) and brothers (Ed Begley Jr., David Ogden Stiers)-staid middle-aged intellectuals all. Discipline problems with his dead son's dog lead Leary to hire flaky professional dogwalker/trainer Muriel Pritchett (Geena Davis, who won an Oscar for her performance). The only non-uptight person within shouting distance, Muriel begins to melt Leary's self-protective shell. Once his wife realizes that she has some competition, she makes moves to get him back. But he has by now become accustomed to Muriel's unfettered lifestyle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Geena Davis won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in this unusually somber but richly rewarding effort from writer and director Lawrence Kasdan, adapting an acclaimed novel by Anne Tyler. Davis is terrific in one of her best roles, but her character is admittedly the sort of wacky, quirky oddball that awards voters love to honor. The real heart and soul of the picture is William Hurt as a man so thunderstruck by grief that he is incapable of emotional movement, walking through his life as a ghost just waiting for its body to die. His eventual thawing is a wonder to behold, the work of a gifted actor at the absolute peak of his career. Although it could have and probably, in the hands of another director, would have become a much darker drama, Kasdan leavens his film with the character-driven humor of Tyler's source material to superb effect. In particular, the family of kooks played by David Ogden Stiers, Ed Begley Jr., and Amy Wright is not only a comic diversion, but serves as a poignant mirror image of the hero's internal malfunctioning, as does a subplot involving one of them in a thwarted relationship with a publisher (Bill Pullman). Stirring both intellectually and emotionally, The Accidental Tourist is an observant, splendidly crafted film. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Ed Begley, Jr. - Charles Leary; Robert Hy Gorman - Alexander Pritchett; David Ogden Stiers - Porter Leary; W.H. Brown - 1st Morgue Detective; Bud - Edward The Dog; Peggy Converse - Mrs. Barrett; Gregory Gouyer - Paris boy; Seth Granger - Ethan; Amanda Houck - Debbie; Caroline Houck - Dorrie; Jacob Kasdan - Scott Canfield; Jon Kasdan - Boy at Doctor's Office; Maureen Kerrigan - Laura Canfield; Bradley Mott - Mr. Loomis; London Nelson - Caroline; Audrey R. Rapoport - Girl on Plane; Walter Sparrow - Hot Dog Vendor; Paul Williamson - London Hotel Manager; Wallis Nicita; Todd Adelman - Macons Doctor; Neana N. Collins - Taunting Girl; David Combs - Minister; Boone Narr - Stunt Person; Donald Neal - 2nd Morgue Detective; Roland Riallot - Paris Cab Driver; Thomas Paolucci - Taunting Boy; Aaron Michael Lacey - Restaurant Patron
Credit
Thomas A. Duffield - Art Director, Tim Hutchinson - Art Director, Cricket Rowland - Art Director, Gerard Viard - Art Director, Wallis Nicita - Casting, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Michael Grillo - First Assistant Director, Lawrence Kasdan - Director, Carol Littleton - Editor, John Malkovich - Executive Producer, Phyllis Carlyle - Executive Producer, Frankie Adams - Composer (Music Score), Wilbur Jones - Composer (Music Score), John Williams - Composer (Music Score), Leonard Engelman - Makeup, Robert W. Welch III - Production Designer, John Bailey - Cinematographer, Michael Grillo - Producer, Lawrence Kasdan - Producer, Charles Okun - Producer, Ann Harris - Set Designer, Cricket Rowland - Set Designer, Paul Sonski - Set Designer, Nick Navarro - Set Designer, Joseph P. Mercurio - Special Effects, David MacMillan - Sound/Sound Designer, Boone Narr - Stunts, Frank Galati - Screenwriter, Lawrence Kasdan - Screenwriter, Anne Tyler - Book Author
Macon Leary is a Baltimore, Maryland writer of travel guides for reluctant business travelers. After the killing of his 12 year old son, Ethan, during a shooting at a fast-food restaurant, he and his wife Sarah find their marriage disintegrating. Eventually she moves out of the house and into an apartment. When Macon becomes incapacitated due to a fall down his basement stairs, he returns to the family home to stay with his eccentric siblings - sister Rose and brothers Porter and Charles - whose odd habits include alphabetizing the groceries in the kitchen cabinets, ignoring the ringing telephone, and playing an invented card game called "Vaccination." Macon's publisher, Julian, comes to visit and finds himself attracted to Rose despite their obvious differences.
Macon hires Muriel Pritchett, a quirky young woman with a sickly son, to train his unruly dog Edward, a Cardigan Welsh corgi, whom he cannot bear to give away because he once belonged to Ethan. Although Muriel at first seems brash and unsophisticated, Macon soon finds himself drifting into a relationship with her, spending most of his nights in her small, shabby apartment and even taking her son shopping for clothes. When Sarah becomes aware of the situation, she decides they should reconcile, even suggesting that they move back into their old home. Macon leaves Muriel and soon Sarah and he have set up house once more.
While visiting Paris for research on a travel guide, it turns out that Muriel is not only in the same flight, but is also staying in the same hotel -- she had found the info in Macon's travel guide. She suggests that they enjoy themselves as if they are on a vacation, but Macon insists that he is there for strictly business. After Macon becomes bedridden in his hotel room with back pain, Sarah comes to Paris to care for him as well as make his trips in order to complete his travel research. Despite Sarah's renewed interest in their relationship, Macon decides to return to Muriel. During his cab ride to the airport, Macon spies Muriel attempting to hail a cab with numerous suitcases and shopping bags at her feet. He tells the cab driver to pull over, and Macon and Muriel smile at each other.
