The Accidental Tourist

"Macon Leary was set in his ways. The way he lived, thought and worked. He imagined it would always be like that. Until an unusual woman showed him the way it could be."

1988 2h 1m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 268

ComedyDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After the death of his son, travel writer Macon Leary seems to be sleep walking through life. Macon's wife is having similar problems. They separate, and Macon meets a strange, outgoing woman who brings him 'back down to earth', but his wife soon thinks their marriage is still worth another try.

“Macon Leary was set in his ways. The way he lived, thought and worked. He imagined it would always be like that. Until an unusual woman showed him the way it could be.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

YouTubeRent

Fandango At HomeRent

Spectrum On DemandRent

Amazon VideoBuy

Apple TV StoreBuy

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

William Hurt
Macon Leary
Kathleen Turner
Sarah Leary
Geena Davis
Muriel Pritchett
Amy Wright
Rose Leary
David Ogden Stiers
Porter Leary
Ed Begley Jr.
Charles Leary
Bill Pullman
Julian Hedge
Robert Hy Gorman
Alexander

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Writers: Frank Galati, Lawrence Kasdan
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, shot by John Bailey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Carol Littleton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

William Hurt and Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Macon Leary was set in his ways. The way he lived, thought and worked. He imagined it would always be like that. Until an unusual woman showed him the way it could be.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0094606 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lawrence Kasdan directs. John Bailey behind the camera. John Williams scores. Carol Littleton cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

138 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, shot by John Bailey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Carol Littleton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5William Hurt and Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Macon Leary was set in his ways. The way he lived, thought and worked. He imagined it would always be like that. Until an unusual woman showed him the way it could be.".
7IMDB entry: tt0094606 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 10 themes, including "sibling relationship", "paris, france", "based on novel or book", "baltimore, usa".

The technical file

Cinematography: John Bailey
Original score: John Williams
Editing: Carol Littleton
Production design: Bo Welch
Costume design: Ruth Myers
Makeup / hair: Lynda Gurasich
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $32,632,093
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Accidental Tourist (1988)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Lawrence Kasdan

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2020-04-05
★ 9/10
I recently watched this movie again after several years and will add just a few small edits * This is a quiet and quirky movie, and may not appeal to some viewers. Certainly it differs from 95% of the movies being made these days. But what the heck, our tastes are all different, right? William Hurt gives the restrained performance the role calls for, playing a man who has disconnected from his feelings so as to avoid the pain of thinking of his deceased son. He writes travel books for people who don't want to "go local" when they travel to other countries, but rather want to feel as comfortable as if they never left home. His character's siblings are even more eccentric than he is. I won't spoil anything by saying how. I will say that near the beginning of the movie is a scene between Macon and his wife about loss through violence that resonates in this age of mass shootings. William Hurt is at his best as Macon, wound up tight and denying the presence of emotions. Kathleen Turner is good as his wife. The movie has its share of slightly off center characters, in a good way, and Macon’s brothers and sister are no exception. You will perhaps recognize David Ogden Stivers and Ed Bagley Jr. in two of those roles. Geena Davis plays the wild card in this movie, an unconventional dog trainer who somehow sees something in William Hurt's character to want to try to pull him out of himself. Geena won an academy award for her role, as I recall, if you care about such things. Her character is, yes, you guessed it, also eccentric, so that might be a lot for the average viewer to take in. They could have done a bit more with her son, as he almost seems like plot device at times than a character. They might have overdone it on his allergies. Geena Davis is perfect as Muriel, who is at once flaky but solid when it is important to be. Her face is expressive. In fact, without spoiling anything, right near the end you see her facial expression change and show her feelings much more effectively than giving her 25 quirky words. Another quiet difference about this movie is the soundtrack. It doesn’t go the Big Chill or most other movie routes: cherry-picking pop or rock hits to accompany scenes for thirty seconds each and then gather on a soundtrack album. Instead, at certain times during the movie, the instrumental thread of music introduced at the beginning is repeated to stress the scene. It is a nice touch. This movie is a quirky sum of all the quirky characters, so give it a try; it might all grow on you.

Production companies