The Accidental Tourist

  (Picture courtesy of Google)

The Accidental Tourist is one of my favorite movies from 1988. This film stars William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, and Geena Davis and is directed by Lawrence Kasdan.  This film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards.

Macon Leary (William Hurt) and his wife, Sarah Leary are both grieving the death of their 12 year-old son, Ethan, who was killed in fast-food restaurant shooting.  Sarah feels that the marriage is coming to an end because her husband is constantly working as a travel guide writer and also due to their son’s death. 

Sarah moves from their home and into an apartment. Macon takes an unexpected fall down the basement stairs and is confined to the family home with his bizarre siblings.  His dog, Edward, a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, is not behaving properly and he does not want to get rid of the dog, because his son, Ethan, had taken good care of him, so he hires dog trainer, Muriel Pritchett (Geena Davis).

Macon finds Muriel direct and unsophisticated, yet he takes a liking to her.  Muriel is a single mother raising her asthmatic son and is very overprotected with him, because he has life threatening allergies.

Soon after meeting Muriel, Macon starts a relationship with her and they spend time at her apartment.  He bonds with her son quickly, taking him to the store to buy clothes.  But then Sarah calls Macon and asks for a reconciliation, to which he agrees.  He leaves Muriel and moves back in with Sarah.

Macon soon flies to Paris and discovers that Muriel is on his flight as well as staying in the same Paris hotel as him.  She said that they should have a good time while in Paris, but Macon makes a point of keeping things strictly as business.

Macon has severe back pain in his hotel room and Sarah decides to go to Paris to be with him; she attends to his needs, but he does not want to go back into their marriage.  On the way to the airport, he spots Muriel with a bunch of luggage, trying to hail a cab.  Macon tells the taxi driver to stop and the two of them smile.

I rate this movie a 10/10 because it deals with pain and grief after losing a loved one and trying to put the pieces of life back together again.  Overall it’s a bittersweet movie with a happy ending. Watch it today; you will not be disappointed!