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9. THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
(1988) dir: Lawrence Kasdan




I honestly don't remember anything about this movie, but I know I have watched it before. I can't give an honest review of it.

Comments pending.

Well, that was interesting. I had to fly out to Chicago over the weekend, and I guess airports don't like this thing called "snow." Perhaps you've heard about the recent storm, that, yes, shut down the entire region of New York City, Boston, and Chicago. As a New Englander, let me tell you, it takes a LOT of snow to shut down these cities, unlike the pussies in North Carolina who close up shop after a half inch of powder.

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I love the Oscars. I do. I love everything that most people hate about them: I love Oscar-baity movies, and I love seeing people's lives change because of the self-serving industry whores who like nothing better than to scratch each others backs. I love that dumb internet jockeys bemoan the irrelevance of the awards, and then hypocritically hope each year that their favorites get picked. I love how interminable the show itself is, but I love that only on the Oscars do you get Celine Dion beating her chest like a mother who will "never go hungry again!"

The whole thing is a silly, silly cultural icon, and I think that's what makes it so special. It's one of the few remaining bastions of pop culture boxing rings where civilians can go at it and still remain friends in the morning. Plus, you get hottie celebs showing off couture that you could never afford, nor would you ever wear in public (even in trendy Manhattan).

This year, here's a few things I'm looking forward to/thinking about:

- In the recent tradition of snubbed leading male actors (see Leo in Titanic, Ewan in Moulin Rouge!, etc.), it should be fun to see Paul Giamatti pop up on a bunch of pundits lists for Snubbie of the Year (including mine).

- What exactly is Before Sunset's screenplay adapted from? It's a welcome, though puzzling nomination.

- The Briticization of Hollywood seems to be a quiet serpent of destructive power. After the BAFTAs blessed Vera Drake, it didn't seem to ring any bells that that would translate to Mike Leigh and his screenplay, but it did. That's way more support than I expected, and I wonder how that will affect things - in particular the Best Actress race...

- ...That's gotta be the best story of the year. Forget Jamie Foxx, how will Annette Bening feel if she's beaten by Hilary Swank AGAIN? Bening is one of those well-respected actresses with an impressive body of work, but who has the bad fortune of never quite dancing on the nerve endings of the year's zeitgeisty performance. That it's the same person sticking it to her (no, not Beatty in bed), has got to stick in her craw (and, no, again, I don't mean Beatty in bed).

- It's awesome that Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events did so well in the artsy categories. I liked this movie a lot, and found it rather elegant in its movie making. A great choice.

- It's too bad that E! got rid of the Rivers in favor of Star, since this year Sophie Okonedo and Catalina Sandino Moreno were both nominated. I can't see myself actually flipping to the TV Guide channel, but I might just to see Joan fuck up their names and say something completely inappropriate about their unfamousness.

I stayed up late last night watching Accidental Tourist. I've been on a kick getting movies with William Hurt in them. Once in a while for movie ideas I'll check out RT movie listing for a particular actor I like. (Anybody else do this?) Accidental Tourist was ranked fresh :fresh: with a high approval rating, so I gave it a try.

Despite being a well done movie, I don't think I would recommend it. It was described as a romance, comedy, drama. I like the idea of the story about a man who writes travel guides but hates to travel, but the movie comes off as a bit dark and not quirky or charming as advertised.

Better William Hurt films:
Kiss of the Spider Women : Prison drama
Broadcast News: Funny! A must see.
The Doctor : Medical drama, personal triumph
Jane Eyre : Historical, romance, suspense
Dark City: Awesome sci-fi
Rare Birds (previously reviewed)

Better Geena Davis films
Thelma and Lousie : Buddies on-the-run
A League of thier Own : Female baseball, comedy with Tom Hanks
Long Kiss Goodnight :Action with Samuel Jackson

Review:
By Ute

Summary:
The Accidental Tourist is a character sketch about a man who loses his 12 year old son to a senseless murder and subsequently loses his wife from the grief resulting from their son's death. The film opens with Macon (William Hurt) coming home from a business trip to find his wife (Kathleen Turner) waiting for him with the news that she would like a divorce. Macon reluctantly grants her request to split and is then lost and alone when he runs into Miriam (Geena Davis), a free spirited woman who tries to teach him that there is a lot to live for.

Why You Should See This Movie:
The acting in this film is a bit above average although nothing too overpowering or interesting. The best part of the film for sure is the directing and filming effects. It is very well put together and presented with interesting sound effects and camera angles.

Why You Shouldn't See This Movie:
The movie begins very well with an interesting catch, but it slows down considerably thereafter and becomes pretty boring through the rest. After the initial plot presentation, the story becomes very boring and the characters seem too odd to believe or be interested in.

Conclusion:
The Accidental Tourist is an average character sketch that never lives up to an interesting beginning, but is partially saved by some interesting filming and camera effects.

Well, I kinda/sorta stole this topic from Cello Girl's journal. 'Cuz we were talking about casting faux pas and books and stuff like that. So it got me to thinking about movies made from books and how so often they're incredibly disappointing because when you read a book, you paint the picture, you bring the characters to life. And so often the director's vision of a book is vastly different from yours. One of the most atrociously-cast movies of all time, I believe, is The Mists of Avalon (based upon the book by Marion Zimmer Bradley...a woman's take on the Arthurian Legends, a subject that is geekily near and dear to my heart). TNT attempted to make this movie and cast Juliana Margolies as Morgan LeFay. (I could write an essay on why this casting choice was cruelly wrong. I'll just give you a small sample of why that that was SO BAD: Morgan LeFay was tiny woman. A tiny, little BRITISH witch. With long, STRAIGHT black hair. And Juliana Margolies with her freakin' FRO was who they thought of? I get apoplectic just thinking about it.) They might as well have stabbed me in the heart. I couldn't watch it. Well, I watched a snippet here and there...enought to surmise that they had not captured 1/1000 of the magic and magesty of the book.

Conversely, I think The Accidental Tourist (based upon the book by Ann Tyler) with William Hurt and Geena Davis might have been one of the most exquisitely cast movies ever.

So, I was wondering which book-to-movie experiments y'all think were successes and which were failures, casting-wise and otherwise.

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Here's my entry into the first graphics battle at my forum:

Geena Davis won Best Actress, but I just didn't like her. She was just quirky and I think thats the only way she won it. Everything just didn't seem fleshed out. I couldn't see the romance with Hurt and Davis also.

Full review to come.

Starring: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Amy Wright
Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan
MPAA Rating: PG

Ratings
Overall: 5.2 (C+)
Family Rating: 7
Story: 4
Acting: 6
Directing: 6
Visuals: 7

(****):