The Accidental Tourist

No! i dont agree - he was excellent in this.

Its a great film. I love its restraint. And that dog os adorable!!

I don't know why, but this film was one of my favorites. It was so understated and quirky, that it would have gone unnoticed by most people if Geena Davis didn't get that Supporting Actress Oscar. Not usually a fan of Hurt, but he's actually well-cast in this movie, since he's supposed to be a wounded soul who hides emotion. I'm surprised Kathleen Turner agreed to her role, since she really only appears at the beginning and end (even though she got 2nd billing). What I really loved about this film was Hurt's family, who were bizarre without being unlikable.

It. was a lovely film. Made me want to go to Baltimore and live in a house like his - yet you only hear terrible things about it these days.

Geena Davis winning the Oscar was such a shock. Sigourney looked to have it in the bag. Odd since Davis wasn't even that well known at the time.

The book was very good. They pulled it off. Perfection.

I bought the lovely soundtrack at the time.

The rare case where the book and the movie were equally great. I used to think I didn’t like William Hurt, because he seemed so cold. But watching him in this movie, after Body Heat, where he and Kathleen Turner played polar opposite parts, changed my mind.

Love this movie and LOVE the book. Everyone in the movie was perfect, including William Hurt. The book is very, very touching. If you haven't read it, you should.

Harrison Ford is not suited for roles that require him to wear a tie. Or pretend to be a person with an over 80 IQ.

Reminds me slightly of The Sterile Cuckoo for some reason. Don't know why. Similar charm.

[quote]Harrison Ford is not suited for roles that require him to wear a tie. Or pretend to be a person with an over 80 IQ.

Yes I don't know why OP pulled his name out of the bag.

Geena Davis was about as close to perfect as a performance can get. Never too much or too little. A lesser actress would have gone way over the top with the kooky aspects of Muriel.

Having that cute Parisian boy help him to the taxi and then seeing him in the window with that fantastic score underneath is just heart-breaking.

actually, I found his silly shiny smile at the very end the only flaw.

Muriel was one of the most coveted roles ever. I remember a Premiere magazine article talking about how every actress of note was after the part.

I loved the Thanksgiving dinner.

The actress who played his sister was perfect...Rose.

Amy Wright played his sister. Wonderful actress. I’d love to know who else was up for the role of Muriel.

I really liked it up until the scene shifted to Paris, and the plot became silly. I thought Hurt was very good, and Bill Pullman and Amy Wright (Rose) really brought a lot to their tiny roles. The cinematography by John Bailey was also outstanding.

R14 the whole movie works its way to that smile. Macon doesn't smile once up until that moment.

Kathleen Turner had a thankless role but she played it beautifully. The scene of the family at Thanksgiving and the turkey that may or may not be poisonous is hilarious.

r17 I remember Mary Steenburgen and Barbara Hershey being mentioned in the Premiere Magazine article.

R21. Wow. I can see both of them as a Muriel. But I’m glad they went with Geena.

Here is a list. This site isn't the most reliable though.

Interesting list. I can see Bergen in Turner’s role but not as Muriel. Thanks!

Geena Davis would have made a wonderful and much more coherent Tess in Working Girl.

[quote]Kathleen Turner had a thankless role but she played it beautifully.

When Kathleen Turner was interviewed about the film, she was totally true to her character..."God knows what he saw in her, she was SO odd!"

I think Laura Dern was about 18 when Accidental Tourist was made so that website is definitely not reliable.

What was the dog called it's driving me crazy?

Edward, r28, IIRC.

Rewatch the beginning of the film and you’ll see that the clouds that Macon’s plane is flying toward look like Muriel’s profile.

R14, Macon is seeing his son’s smile on the boy.

Victoria Tennant as Muriel? You gotta fucking be kidding me!

Thank you, R29

WHAT'S IIRC?

I love when the brothers and sisters do the clucking sound when playing the family card game. It is also Bill Pullman's best role.

Anne Tyler positioned herself as my favorite author because of this film. I went straight from the theater to the bookstore (a Waldenbooks, I believe). I’ve read every one of her books. Breathing Lessons is my second favorite after Tourist.

IIRC, it is "If I recall correctly..."

Okay

Pullman looked handsome.

Back then most things would be improved by looking at Harrison Ford.

[quote]Anne Tyler positioned herself as my favorite author because of this film. I went straight from the theater to the bookstore (a Waldenbooks, I believe). I’ve read every one of her books. Breathing Lessons is my second favorite after Tourist.

Me exactly the same.

They made a not so good movie of Breathing Lessons

But I kept buying her books and they stopped being good, so I gave up.

Yes, r40! I didn’t get past the first ten minutes. They NEED to make it again.

Anne Tyler is wonderful.

Did anyone see Miss Dunaway in "Back When We Were Grownups"?

Saint Maybe is my favorite Anne Tyler novel. The TV movie adaptation was just ok.

I tried about seven times to read Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant - but gave up.

Anyone who liked this would love Olive Kitteridge.

For those of you who gave up on reading Ann Tyler, I would suggest you go ahead and read A Spool of Blue Thread. I, too, wasn't thrilled with some of the others but she seemed to recapture some of the magic with Thread. Nothing is going to beat The Accidental Tourist though.

Olive Kitteridge is more bitter, while AT is more on the sad side.

When I was in my early 20s I was living a very strange arrangement in Manhattan and I read one of Tyler’s books and a certain group of characters in the book reminded me so much of my own life I just had to write her and tell about my real life version. This was pre-internet so I honestly don’t renenber how I got her address—maybe I sent the letter to her publisher?

Anyway, didn’t she write me back though? She told me how delighted she was with my tale and contrasted a few of my real life characters with her creations. I was amazed and gratified to get a response at all, let alone such a long and thoughtful one. This was right after she had been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Isn't that nice, Bootsy! She was clearly charmed by your letter.

I remember Kathleen Turner being drunk off her ass on TV at an after Oscar party talking to a reporter about how happy she was for Geena.

She must have been jealous. I do remember it was interesting that she said she, Hurt and Lawrence Kasdan all had move fun making this film than they did Body Heat because they were all much nicer people nowadays.

All the while she was sort of doing a pose with one hand on her hip in an unusual way.

This is a movie I’ve never had a desire to see, for some reason. William Hurt always seems so smug and leaves me absolutely cold.

Speaking of Geena Davis, a guilty pleasure of mine is “The Long Kiss Goodnight”.

he's not smug in this one r53, he's shy and depressed

Only Anne Tyler can pull off a flashback within a flashback within a flashback. Fifty pages later and only 10 minutes have gone by.

And I LOVE it.

I liked the movie, but IMO Geena Davis was too conventionally pretty for the role of a quirky woman who walks dogs for a living.

DL favorite Martin Mull played the book agent who comes to Macon's house. Macon's dog starts barking, snarling, and acting nuts. Martin Mull climbs up a tree, scared. Mull says: "With a dog like that, I don't hate the dog, I hate the owner!" I totally agree.

I, too, love Anne Tyler's books, incl. Patchwork Planet. She always comes up with the best names for local businesses: "Rent a Back," etc.

but Davis contorted her face and wasn't as pretty in this as she could be in real life (like in her Oscar speech.) Plus its the movies. Everyone is better looking.

Hurt was great! Ford would've been good too.

I recommend reading the book. It's laugh out loud funny. I liked Hurt in the movie, but I don't think he matches the character in the book.

For those of us working from home for the first time, there are some funny "scenes" in the book about Macon's devolving work / home habits.

[quote] DL favorite Martin Mull played the book agent who comes to Macon's house.

It was Bill Pullman, not Martin Mull.