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The Accidental Tourist

Play trailer Poster for The Accidental Tourist PG Released Jan 6, 1989 2h 1m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
82% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
After the murder of their young son, the marriage between Macon (William Hurt) and his wife Sarah (Kathleen Turner) disintegrates, and she moves out. After a freak accident puts him on crutches, Macon goes to stay with his quirky siblings at the family home, where he meets the spirited Muriel (Geena Davis), a dog trainer with a young son of her own, with whom he begins a friendship. When Sarah learns about this, she attempts a reconciliation and Macon is forced to make a decision.
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The Accidental Tourist

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Critics Consensus

Generous with its characters' foibles and virtues, The Accidental Tourist is a thoughtful drama vested with insight into the complications of relationships.

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Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times I've never seen a movie so sad in which there was so much genuine laughter. Rated: 4/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Rated: 2/4 Dec 23, 1988 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) This eccentric family invented by Anne Tyler leaves the page finding strange new life with screenwriter/director Lawrence Kasdan. [Full review in Spanish] Jun 15, 2022 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy It's perfect in every way -- like Lost In Translation, The Piano and a few others, it's the sort of intimate movie that irrevocably touches certain viewers while leaving the rest shrugging their shoulders. Rated: 4/4 Dec 28, 2021 Full Review Brian D. Johnson Maclean's Magazine As a comedy, Accidental Tourist is smart, witty and sophisticated. Oct 11, 2019 Full Review Alberto Abuín Espinof It has that slow rhythm, but without calm, very much to the taste of its director. [Full Review in Spanish] Sep 4, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (273) audience reviews
Leaburn O A solid romance drama with a bit of dark humour. Fairly adult interpretation of relationships rather than glossy Hollywood storyline. Not too bad and has aged ok. Watched on DVD after searching for it for a while. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Audience Member So frustrating watching William Heard’s character for me. Like Andy said in Shawshank Redemption “get bus living or get busy dying”. Very unique characters. Kathleen Turner is a movie star. This movie made me fall in love with Geena Davis Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Voice O Dated, boring, odd. The other characters orbit around Macon as if they were paper cut outs on a baby's mobile leaving the impression that only Macon's experience and emotions are real. Then there are the subtle misogynistic undertones such as "like a mother saying 'eat, eat' all those courses forced on you", and that every female character is in some way controlling, bossy, detached or aggressive, and, all the while assuming what men want and think instead of asking them. What's left that is redeemable may have camouflaged the film's faults in the 80's, but today those highlights are overshadowed like mushrooms on a forest floor. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 05/25/22 Full Review Audience Member One of the many themes: parents dealing with the loss of a child and the lingering effects and damage to their relationship. How people can fall back into familiar patterns that don't serve them well as they age. The ability of an individual to love an eccentric person---to not see flaws but these qualities as essential to the individuality of that person. That a person can feel safer disclosing their inner most pain and feelings with someone who is almost a stranger than their partner in marriage. There is a lot to this movie, and much of it able to be funny or amusing. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review William L "I hate to travel." "I thought so, so do businessmen. I mean, these folks would rather be at home in their living room. So you will be helping them to pretend that that's where they are." And people act like the desire for remote work was something that millennials just created out of thin air. William Hurt stars as Macon Leary, a man wandering through life in a daze after the death of his young son, saying all the right words but without ever putting any emotion behind them. The title claims that he's a travel writer with a distaste for travel, but honestly that humorous backstory factors so infrequently into the story that he might as well be an insurance salesman. Into this life steps Geena Davis as Muriel, a liberated and passionate single mother who is bound and determined to ensure that Macon confronts his grief and overcomes it. What follows is a combination of dark comedy and drama that is difficult to really immerse yourself in. Though it's obviously a key part of his character, Macon speaks with such a relentless monotone throughout the entire film that it begins to weigh on you, and certainly makes you wonder why Muriel pulls out all the stops attempting to pursue him when he shows such clear disinterest in everything around him. The plot feels unusually motivated by these 'love at first sight' encounters, particularly when Macon's publicist arrives at his home and becomes immediately and unexplainably infatuated with his eccentric sister. While the script has moments of sincerity, it still revolves around a relatively predictable, "weary professional finds new meaning thanks to a quirky partner" storyline. Maybe the book has more meat on the bone to chew on. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/23/21 Full Review Audience Member This is a movie which presents relationship issues in most honest light, no airbrushing! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Accidental Tourist

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Movie Info

Synopsis After the murder of their young son, the marriage between Macon (William Hurt) and his wife Sarah (Kathleen Turner) disintegrates, and she moves out. After a freak accident puts him on crutches, Macon goes to stay with his quirky siblings at the family home, where he meets the spirited Muriel (Geena Davis), a dog trainer with a young son of her own, with whom he begins a friendship. When Sarah learns about this, she attempts a reconciliation and Macon is forced to make a decision.
Director
Lawrence Kasdan
Producer
Michael Grillo, Charles Okun, Lawrence Kasdan
Screenwriter
Frank Galati, Lawrence Kasdan
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 6, 1989, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 28, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$30.3M
Runtime
2h 1m
Sound Mix
Surround
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