The Accidental Tourist (1988)

So you take a Pulitzer-price winning book about loss, grief, loneliness and emotional distance... And cast Geena Davis. Now, there's a gamble.

The pace of the movie is set perfect through the monotonous muttering of William Hurt, cast as Macon Leary, director Kasdan giving us a couple of minutes in quirkiness before his first unpleasant scene. Made a bit more pleasant by Macon "holding steady". As he does.

A high-point of the film is Macon's voiceover of his own books. A travel guide for how to avoid any experience of the destination itself, all with total lack of self-irony. Another is the chemistry between Hurt and Davis, particularly her blatantly direct approach to dating him, encountering only aloofness, and some painfully clear hints for a long while.

So Davis and Hurt are outstanding together, but the casting of Macon's family is breathtaking, with Amy Wright, David Ogden Stiers and Ed Begley jr. shining as the most dysfunctional family quirkiness could muster in the 80's. Then in comes an adorably smitten Bill Pullman, to make them even better. His teasing of, and immediate taking to, their strange ways is a treat. As watching them from the outside, through him. 

The story, based on the novel of Anne Tyler, is quite good, though as earlier illustrated, it's the characters that excel. Muriel sees all the world with wonder, and Macon surfs that wave, finding joy and wonder through her, though borrowed at first. And for a dog-lover like myself, to centre the story around a cute dog is for extra credit, particularly since their classes together are very amusing. 

Williams' music is wonderful. A very sombre, piano and flute-based composition. Unlike most his other scores. Though, like most his scores, this was Oscar-nominated.

For those loving characters and quirkiness more than plots, this slow-paced drama is a little gem. Yes, the ending is a bit lame, but it's so wonderfully casted and acted, you should live with. And it has perhaps the most quiet hug in cinematic history. As for Davis. An Academy Award no less.

8/10