Customer Reviews

The Daytrippers

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For the most part, I agree with the other reviews I've seen here, with two exceptions, and I'll concentrate on those. Describing the Parker Posey character as "promiscuous" and "one-note" is, I believe, missing the mark. The day trip is significant for her in that as it continues, her feelings for her boyfriend are tested as she hears him express his views and describe the book he's writing, then sees his views tested by a man of strong intellect (who also tests her commitment to the relationship). And I think that the reason that Ann Meara makes another viewer want to put a hole in his TV is that she is so on-target with her portrayal of a controlling mother and wife. This film is, for the most part, funny, but it is ultimately surprising, sad, and touching.

A charming, pleasant little comedy, which avoids triteness, and all-too-easy cliches, quite admirably. As they say, this is the kind of flick that gives independant films a good name. I found the humor of the film richly appealing primarily because it never imposes itself on you. Amusing situations are allowed to be amusing in and of themselves; they aren't centered around specific jokes that are being shoved at you. As a result of its subtlety, the movie is never quite hilarious -- but what it gains is a consistent atmosphere of agreeable charm and surprisingly three-dimensional characters. The attempt to mix in such intense drama towards the end of the film feels a bit heavy-handed, and is maybe a bit overdone; and the ending itself is a bit befuddling and mildly unsatisfactory. Yet these qualms are minor, and well outweighed by the film's merits.

Liev Schreiber is a treat as Posey's boyfriend, and Campbell Scott pops up, amusingly, as a sleazy author. Hope Davis fits her role like a glove, and is also one of the cutest women I've ever seen. All in all, a fine movie, and a very agreeable way to pass 90 minutes.

The film is outstanding -- Mottola's best, in my opinion.

However, this review is of the DVD itself. The transfer is soft with a lot of compression artifacts that distort the image. The most glaring flaw, though, is that (like its region 2 counterpart) the film is presented in a 1.33:1 ratio rather than the original widescreen. I've held off on owning this for quite a few years, waiting for it to be presented in its original aspect ratio. Not at least getting the option of seeing the film's original framing as it was composed for theaters is a rare situation in the DVD (and now Blu-Ray) era, and I don't want to encourage this blunder with a purchase.
Superbad and Adventureland were both pretty popular, so why no new release of their outstanding predecessor, with a nice anamorphic transfer?

Viewers expecting raucous laughs, and slapstick humor will be terribly disappointed with this film. The Daytrippers' humor lies in the nuances of the realistic characters, the subtly sarcastic dialogue, and the film's overall quiet resolve despite the ridiculous situation presented. Lovers of "Seinfeld" (like myself) will watch this movie again and again...

It's clear that the vhs and dvds are long out of print and difficult or expesive to find. I got an international (multi-region)dvd player a couple years ago, and it's payed off. This movie is much easier to find in the region 2 format. Same movie, same features, can't play on regular north american dvd players. People who like this movie are likely to seek out hard to find movies, you might be surprised at what you can find from different counties. Of course, in five years all these hard to find movies may become available through new on-demand cable or whatever.

I loved this movie, saw it when it was in theaters, then watched a copy I taped off cable. Now I have a dvd. It's become a traditional day-after-Thanksgiving movie for me (that's when the movie takes place). Definitely a molasses paced character drama/comedy. Not for everyone.

This is one of the greatest indie flicks of the late 1990's. Clever comedy in independent movies don't come close to Daytrippers, except maybe Schitzopolis. No violence, no sex; Great dialogue, awesome script, unbeatable cast! You must take a look at who is in this film - which proves once again that a great script attracts great talent, as much as money does.

Although this movie really great acting, the reason this is one of my favorite movies is for the script. It's clean, fresh and very funny.

It's about a family (three couples of different generations ranging from suburb mid-class parents, to married older sister and husband, to college-student younger sister and her boyfriend) and their daytrip to NYC to find the married sister's husband who they suspect may be cheating on her.

As the story travels through strange and fateful events, each couple's relationship reaches a moment of revelation, as well as the sisters' relationships with their parents. Though most of the script is funny, the story is wrapped in a quest for a potential disappointment of finding out if the husband is cheating.

If we were to send a DVD in outer space for stupid grey aliens to find, it should be this one! This movie transcends human emotion with sobering tact! A highly enjoyable movie!

Does anyone know why "The Daytrippers" is out of print, and whether it will again become available on DVD?

Intelligent film fans who haven't yet seen this movie are being cheated!

This is a movie about family dynamics, humor, an interesting journey and an unexpected ending. It is a view into the life of some ordinary people that end up in extraordinary circumstances concerning their love lives and sexuality.

The plot revolves around a surprise visit to see the Hope Davis character's husband at work. When he's not there, Hope, her sister, her friend and their parents set off on a journey around Manhattan to locate him. This alluring journey takes them to a stranger's apartment, a possible girlfriend's abode, a couple parties and a stunning conclusion that turns their world upside down. All the while this inventive entanglement is filled with unexpected fun.

There are a lot of movies out there like this one. "The Opposite of Sex", a journey romantic comedy with a starrier cast, is one such movie. I don't think any of the flicks I've seen in recent months including "Opposite of Sex" quite equal the invention and merriment quotient of this one.

In part, bravura performances by Hope Davis, Anne Meara, Pat McNamara, Parker Posey and Liev Schreiber draw the viewer into the world of this family and the expose' of its dysfunction. Also, the direction, script and the process by which discovery is unveiled attribute to the success formula.

This isn't the last word in filmmaking and it suffers from the most useless cliche of New York movies -- the chief subject is in the book publishing business. Why are so many New York movies built around this platitude? Aren't there otehr industries in that city worthy of mention in film? There is no more parochial subject in East Coast moviemaking than this.

Still, because of the values cited above, this film is a notch above other family dysfunction flicks. Rent this some night when you are bored. You'll find this movie brings out feelings you weren't expecting and gives you pause to think, "Could these things happen to me?"

The title for this movie is very apt for more than one reason. One is that this movie is literally about a family (plus one daughter's boyfriend) which takes a DAY TRIP into the city (NYC, we are led to assume) to investigate a familial concern. The other reason is something rather inherent in the movie - that in many instances, more than one thing is meant by many sayings and gestures in the movie - it is a film that consistently plays on ambiguities. Literally, this family throughout the whole day is "tripping" around - discovering strange things about its various members, discovering strange things in its journey, etc.

Meet the Malones: Jim Malone, the father (rather laid back and subdued and warmhearted) who suffers at the domineering tyranny of his wife, the acerbic and biting Rita (played very well and VERY hilariously by Anne Meara, a comic actress of no small talent) who is openly disapproving and derisive of her younger daughter Jo, (played by Parker Posey in probably the best movie she's ever starred in) a college girl who is rather rebellious drinking straight out of the family orange juice and Coca-Cola bottles, who has a red streak in her hair and is the girlfriend of Karl (Liev Schreiber), a miseducated but somewhat decent intellectual who is also sadly the butt of the screenwriter's sophisticated, subtle jokes.

Also in the family is Eliza (Hope Davis), the eldest daughter. It is when she, who as a married adult (to Louis D'Amico, played by Stanley Tucci, a literary agent) discovers in her morning cleaning duties an article which she thinks is a love note either to or from her husband that the actions and events originate. She remains skeptical about the note; it is her nosy, pushy mother who directs the action and the investigation.

I find this a highly original and hilarious film. The characterizations are excellent and the acting is dead-on in all cases. The script is wonderful. It is one of those scripts where the the writer keeps 'winking' at the audience to let them know what's REALLY going down with some of the characters (a fairly decent understanding of English literary history, in particular, helps here).

Many critics call this film 'uneven' in that it begins as a comedy, but shifts into a more serious, 'darker' mode later on in the film. But why limit such a highly evolved movie to strict genre quibbles and mere categorization? Life is certainly more than a daily comedy or daily drama. Sometimes it's a strange and even harrowing mixture of both. And that's what makes this movie even better - it take a day out of a family's life, and with a clever, hilarious script and keen acting, it shows how much can go on and go wrong within the course of an unpredictable day.

A movie of this quality only comes by once a year. Indie Queen Parker Posey is brilliant, as always. The characters are so real you feel like you actually know them. To call this wonderful film a "slice of life" would be too simplistic. This is a journey of discovery. If you will sit in the car with them for 90 minutes, you might even come to learn something about yourself. Filmmaking at its best is when several characters can be in a place, not talking, and you know what each is thinking about and you care about them. See it.