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GRAND CANYON
The creative force behind 1983's The Big Chill scored a not as well known bullseye eight years later with Grand Canyon, a 1991 episodic drama centered on a group of characters whose six degrees of separation tell different stories of guilt, loneliness, materialism, emotional blackmail, and the consequences of actions.
The film centers on the accidental meeting between two people who really never should have: Mack (Kevin Kline) is a high-powered Los Angeles attorney whose car breaks down in the wrong neighborhood one night and his life is actually saved by a tow truck driver named Simon (Danny Glover) and then we are introduced to the lives that surround both of these two men whose separate lives involve some life-altering events.
On Mack's side, we meet his wife, Claire (Mary McDonnell), who is experiencing empty nest syndrome when her 15 year old son goes to camp for the summer and one morning while jogging, Claire actually finds an abandoned baby in a secluded wooded area and decides that she is going to keep this baby, no matter what her husband and son think. We also meet Dee (Mary Louise Parker), Mack's assistant with whom he had a one night stand that he regrets but it is slowly revealed that Dee has not gotten over it as quickly as Mack has. Then there's Mack's BFF, Davis (Steve Martin), a movie producer who is responsible for popular cinematic trash who has an alleged epiphany after a mugging that ends with him getting shot in the leg.
Simon's world introduces his nephew (Patrick Malone) whose gang banging has put his mother (Tina Lifford) and little sister in serious danger. What we then see is Mack feeling obligated to continually thank Simon for what he did while discouraging his wife about this baby and pretty much ignoring what Dee is going through.
Director Lawrence Kasdan and his wife, Meg have crafted an intelligent, if slightly talky screenplay that offers some surprising moments of discomfort, especially in the way Mack keeps trying to insert himself into Simon's life but we understand Mack's gratitude as well as we understand Simon's discomfort at Mack possibly making more out of this incident than he should have, though as I watched the opening scene, I couldn't help but think that if the same incident happened in 2016, both Mack and Simon would have been dead.
Kasdan's direction is thoughtful and detailed as it was in The Big Chill and gets some terrific performances from his cast, with standout work from Glover, maybe my favorite performance of his and Steve Martin's flashy, Oscar-worthy turn as Davis. BTW, Mack's son is played by a young Jeremy Sisto, who, four years later, would get his 15 minutes playing Elton in Clueless...love the scene where Mack is giving his son a driving lesson. What we have here is a thoughtful and intelligent adult drama with a brilliant ensemble cast that will suck you in and keep you invested to the end.
The creative force behind 1983's The Big Chill scored a not as well known bullseye eight years later with Grand Canyon, a 1991 episodic drama centered on a group of characters whose six degrees of separation tell different stories of guilt, loneliness, materialism, emotional blackmail, and the consequences of actions.
The film centers on the accidental meeting between two people who really never should have: Mack (Kevin Kline) is a high-powered Los Angeles attorney whose car breaks down in the wrong neighborhood one night and his life is actually saved by a tow truck driver named Simon (Danny Glover) and then we are introduced to the lives that surround both of these two men whose separate lives involve some life-altering events.
On Mack's side, we meet his wife, Claire (Mary McDonnell), who is experiencing empty nest syndrome when her 15 year old son goes to camp for the summer and one morning while jogging, Claire actually finds an abandoned baby in a secluded wooded area and decides that she is going to keep this baby, no matter what her husband and son think. We also meet Dee (Mary Louise Parker), Mack's assistant with whom he had a one night stand that he regrets but it is slowly revealed that Dee has not gotten over it as quickly as Mack has. Then there's Mack's BFF, Davis (Steve Martin), a movie producer who is responsible for popular cinematic trash who has an alleged epiphany after a mugging that ends with him getting shot in the leg.
Simon's world introduces his nephew (Patrick Malone) whose gang banging has put his mother (Tina Lifford) and little sister in serious danger. What we then see is Mack feeling obligated to continually thank Simon for what he did while discouraging his wife about this baby and pretty much ignoring what Dee is going through.
Director Lawrence Kasdan and his wife, Meg have crafted an intelligent, if slightly talky screenplay that offers some surprising moments of discomfort, especially in the way Mack keeps trying to insert himself into Simon's life but we understand Mack's gratitude as well as we understand Simon's discomfort at Mack possibly making more out of this incident than he should have, though as I watched the opening scene, I couldn't help but think that if the same incident happened in 2016, both Mack and Simon would have been dead.
Kasdan's direction is thoughtful and detailed as it was in The Big Chill and gets some terrific performances from his cast, with standout work from Glover, maybe my favorite performance of his and Steve Martin's flashy, Oscar-worthy turn as Davis. BTW, Mack's son is played by a young Jeremy Sisto, who, four years later, would get his 15 minutes playing Elton in Clueless...love the scene where Mack is giving his son a driving lesson. What we have here is a thoughtful and intelligent adult drama with a brilliant ensemble cast that will suck you in and keep you invested to the end.