source: The Discoverers

This is a nice little gem I just discovered on cable. It features Griffin Dunne, the hapless (and ever-present) victim from American Werewolf in London. He's an out of luck professor struggling to get by and see his 6,000 page epic on Lewis and Clark's expedition published by someone. Divorced, he plans to take his two teenage kids to the Pacific when family troubles interfere. This is fun slice-of-life, Dunne maintains (usually) his composure among all the troubles he faces, including flak from his teenage daughter (marvelously played by Martin) and distracted teenage son. Into the mix steps Cara Buono, of Beer League, to ease his pain. I'll watch Cara in almost anything and she is great in this. Stuart Margolin (Angel from The Rockford files) plays Dunne's dysfunctional dad. The highlight is the kids' forced march on a "discovery trek", but the movie as a whole works well with a nice wrap.

History professor and aspiring author Lewis Birch (Griffin Dunne) heads on a road trip with his children Zoe (Martin) and Jack (Graye) to attend a conference. However, he learns early into the trip that his mother is ill, and heads to visit her, where he finds she has died. His father, Stanley (Stuart Margolin) decides to follow a Lewis and Clark reenactment trip, the family ends up traveling together. I watched this to give some appreciation to actor Stuart Margolin, but really this is Dunne's show. I know him pretty much only from "American Werewolf", but I think I need to fix that because he is great here. I love that the father is obsessed with Lewis and Clark, and named his son Lewis. The son, who thinks his dad is a nut, writes a 6,000-page history on Lewis and Clark anyway. We then have a quirky supporting cast, which never hurts, including the kids (or grandkids), who seem horrified by their adventure. The daughter, in particular, has an awful time and becomes someone worth rallying around if you are to root for any of these nuts.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who observes this, but this feels like a ripoff of Sideways. Ironically, the story is about a failed author whose angry about another writer beating him to the punch in putting out a bestseller which is precisely what happened here. Even if this had come out first, I still think Sideways would be better. This film makes me want to watch Sideways again. I wonder if it is a ripoff, or just an awful coincidence that the two are so similar but this one is inferior. Let's start with what made Sideways so much better: The star of Sideways was the California wine experience that could have been written by the tourism board. All the drama the characters were going through revolved around the charm of the Northern California wine tasting experience. The characters and their backstories remained charming by remaining in the background. The subtle twists and turns of the story were delivered with an element of surprise that made it a thoughtful, adult film that despite not being an action film, didn't bore. The moments of sadness when Miles goes into a whiny depression are immediately offset by the beauty of the scenery and on-screen wine, or should I say, "whine" binges. Like Miles, we could drown our sorrows in some fermented grape juice even if vicariously. In the case of Discoverers, the Americana charm of re-enactments, which deserves a fine documentary or movie storytale is sadly shoved in the background for the father-son-reconciliation, sullen teenage politically correct daughter, and formulaic romance. Similar elements were in Sideways but being more subtly addressed and centering around the characters' mutual appreciation of wine and nature, generated a holistic binding between the characters and the scenery. There are neat parallels between where the character of Lewis loses his temper over his failed novel in a store and in Sideways where Miles loses his mind during a wine tasting after finding out about his novel. It's hard to put my finger on it, but one feels robotic while the other is engaging. Perhaps with some fine tuning of the writing, directing, and acting it could have worked. That's the tragedy of it. I think if the Nell and Patti characters had remained in re-enactment character and drawn us into that universe, it could have been a surprise hit and Sideways would look second best in comparison. I watched more of this film than I liked because of Cara Buono, Madeleine Martin, and Ann Dowd who are knockouts. If they're in a re-enactment, I'm GOING! Bottom line: If you haven't seen Sideways, perhaps watch this and then watch Sideways and you'll like it even more. Perhaps you'll even like this one too in seeing what could have been.

No, this movie is not for everyone. This is one of those little quirky films I like, that you never quite know where it's heading, but just sorta enjoy the journey along the way. In this case, it's the same trek/journey that Lewis & Clark took to find the Northwest Passage. Griffin Dunne stars as the head of a family spiraling out of control, and after the passing of his mother, joins his father and a team of L&C reenactors with his son and daughter. In many ways, it's Madeleine Martin ("Californication") as the daughter that steals the show. She's clever, smart and always one step ahead of everyone else it seems. The funniest moments in this are little things you never quite expect- I've found that to be more my taste. So if you're into little cerebral comedies like this, "The Discoverers" will be right up your alley...

It's not a bad little movie, good performances from all, its a story about a messed up family that's trying to find something in their lives among each other. The other review didn't like the "f...word, but that's a reality in today's movie unless you just watch Hallmark movies, of which I know well, since I've done two of them. The story revolves around the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803-1805 (I might be a year off). Actually I'm a Lewis and Clark fan, I've driven in many areas that the first Americans explored even though the French-Canadians were all over the place. The interesting part of the movie is the real story of Lewis and Clark, and of the slave York, who figures in this story as his position among the others wasn't all that great. A sub-story is about the thousand-page book that the Griffin Dunne character wrote about the Lewis and Clark expedition which the publishers cancelled,due to size and another book from the slave, York. It's good for history buffs and also those who like mixed up family stories, I watched the entire movie.

source: The Discoverers

This is a nice little gem I just discovered on cable. It features Griffin Dunne, the hapless (and ever-present) victim from American Werewolf in London. He's an out of luck professor struggling to get by and see his 6,000 page epic on Lewis and Clark's expedition published by someone. Divorced, he plans to take his two teenage kids to the Pacific when family troubles interfere. This is fun slice-of-life, Dunne maintains (usually) his composure among all the troubles he faces, including flak from his teenage daughter (marvelously played by Martin) and distracted teenage son. Into the mix steps Cara Buono, of Beer League, to ease his pain. I'll watch Cara in almost anything and she is great in this. Stuart Margolin (Angel from The Rockford files) plays Dunne's dysfunctional dad. The highlight is the kids' forced march on a "discovery trek", but the movie as a whole works well with a nice wrap.

History professor and aspiring author Lewis Birch (Griffin Dunne) heads on a road trip with his children Zoe (Martin) and Jack (Graye) to attend a conference. However, he learns early into the trip that his mother is ill, and heads to visit her, where he finds she has died. His father, Stanley (Stuart Margolin) decides to follow a Lewis and Clark reenactment trip, the family ends up traveling together. I watched this to give some appreciation to actor Stuart Margolin, but really this is Dunne's show. I know him pretty much only from "American Werewolf", but I think I need to fix that because he is great here. I love that the father is obsessed with Lewis and Clark, and named his son Lewis. The son, who thinks his dad is a nut, writes a 6,000-page history on Lewis and Clark anyway. We then have a quirky supporting cast, which never hurts, including the kids (or grandkids), who seem horrified by their adventure. The daughter, in particular, has an awful time and becomes someone worth rallying around if you are to root for any of these nuts.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who observes this, but this feels like a ripoff of Sideways. Ironically, the story is about a failed author whose angry about another writer beating him to the punch in putting out a bestseller which is precisely what happened here. Even if this had come out first, I still think Sideways would be better. This film makes me want to watch Sideways again. I wonder if it is a ripoff, or just an awful coincidence that the two are so similar but this one is inferior. Let's start with what made Sideways so much better: The star of Sideways was the California wine experience that could have been written by the tourism board. All the drama the characters were going through revolved around the charm of the Northern California wine tasting experience. The characters and their backstories remained charming by remaining in the background. The subtle twists and turns of the story were delivered with an element of surprise that made it a thoughtful, adult film that despite not being an action film, didn't bore. The moments of sadness when Miles goes into a whiny depression are immediately offset by the beauty of the scenery and on-screen wine, or should I say, "whine" binges. Like Miles, we could drown our sorrows in some fermented grape juice even if vicariously. In the case of Discoverers, the Americana charm of re-enactments, which deserves a fine documentary or movie storytale is sadly shoved in the background for the father-son-reconciliation, sullen teenage politically correct daughter, and formulaic romance. Similar elements were in Sideways but being more subtly addressed and centering around the characters' mutual appreciation of wine and nature, generated a holistic binding between the characters and the scenery. There are neat parallels between where the character of Lewis loses his temper over his failed novel in a store and in Sideways where Miles loses his mind during a wine tasting after finding out about his novel. It's hard to put my finger on it, but one feels robotic while the other is engaging. Perhaps with some fine tuning of the writing, directing, and acting it could have worked. That's the tragedy of it. I think if the Nell and Patti characters had remained in re-enactment character and drawn us into that universe, it could have been a surprise hit and Sideways would look second best in comparison. I watched more of this film than I liked because of Cara Buono, Madeleine Martin, and Ann Dowd who are knockouts. If they're in a re-enactment, I'm GOING! Bottom line: If you haven't seen Sideways, perhaps watch this and then watch Sideways and you'll like it even more. Perhaps you'll even like this one too in seeing what could have been.