The Accidental Tourist tells the story of Macon Leary (Hurt), a travel writer struggling to cope with the sudden death of his son and the breakdown of his marriage to Sarah (Turner). As he retreats into his solitary life, Muriel Pritchett (Davis), an eccentric dog trainer, helps him rediscover love and a sense of purpose.
The Accidental Tourist was released on December 23, 1988, to critical acclaim, with praise for its thoughtful exploration of grief and performances of the cast, with high praise directed towards Davis' performance. The film emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box-office, grossing over $32.6 million worldwide against a budget of approximately $15 million.
Macon Leary is a Baltimore writer of travel guides for reluctant business travelers, which detail how best to avoid unpleasantness and difficulty.
His marriage to his wife Sarah is disintegrating in the aftermath of the tragic death of their 12-year-old son, Ethan. Macon is leveraging the philosophy he espouses in his travel guides to keep control of himself, his grief, and his life, and this excessive control is becoming increasingly dysfunctional. Sarah eventually leaves Macon, moving out of their house and into an apartment, leaving him with the house and the family dog, Edward.
Macon meets Muriel Pritchett, an eccentric animal hospital employee and dog trainer with a sickly son named Alexander. Macon eventually hires Muriel to put his dog through much-needed obedience training after Edward causes Macon to fall down the stairs and break his leg. Muriel is quite forward in her interest in Macon, which acts as a counterforce to his stiff personality. Although Muriel at first seems brash and unsophisticated, Macon eventually finds himself opening up to her and trusting her. Over time, he moves into her apartment and becomes a father figure to Alexander. Some conflict arises between Muriel and Macon when he offers to help with private school costs. Muriel wants more commitment to the relationship and fears another disappointment. When Sarah's apartment lease is up, she moves back into their old home and suggests to Macon that they start over. Macon leaves Muriel, and he and Sarah set up house once more.
When Macon visits Paris for research, Muriel surprises him by showing up on the same flight and staying in the same Paris hotel, recommended by Macon in one of his travel guides. She suggests that they enjoy themselves as if they are vacationing together. Macon insists he is there strictly for business, and although he shows concern for how Alexander is doing, he keeps Muriel at arm's length.
During Macon's last night in Paris, Muriel asks to go with him, and despite an early flight, she tells him he doesn't have to reply just yet. Waking up in the middle of the night, Macon decides to call Muriel but his telephone malfunctions. While trying to fix the cord, he hurts his back and becomes bedridden. Muriel knocks on his door, waking him up, but before he can respond, she assumes he has already left and leaves herself. Mustering the strength to get to the front desk, Macon phones his publisher to inform him of his back pain. Sarah comes to Paris with pain medication, sent by Macon's sister Rose, to care for him and complete his travel guide. Sarah proposes that after finishing the day trips, they can reschedule the flight and make the trip a second honeymoon, to which Macon tepidly agrees. However, Sarah confronts him about Muriel, questioning his attraction to her: "Was it the boy?" Despite their attempts to rekindle their marriage, Macon begins to realize that their relationship is stunted without their son.
The next morning, Macon dresses while Sarah sleeps and tells her that he is going back to Muriel. He explains that he needs to move on to someone who can help him out of his grief. Macon realizes that while Sarah was strong enough to cope, he needs Muriel to help him move forward. As Macon walks to the taxi stand, he leaves his signature handheld bag in the street. Struggling to catch a taxi, a young boy who visually resembles Ethan stops a cab and lets Macon catch up. The boy, a metaphor for Macon's new beginning, wishes him well on his journey. Macon spots Muriel hailing a taxi and tells his driver to stop. Thinking the driver stopped for her, Muriel gathers her luggage and sees Macon in the taxi. She smiles, and Macon smiles back.
The Accidental Tourist holds an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Generous with its character's foibles and virtues, The Accidental Tourist is a thoughtful drama vested with insight into the complications of relationships."[1] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[2] Additionally, audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[3]
Roger Ebert gave The Accidental Tourist a glowing review, calling it "one of the best films of the year", while praising its direction, screenplay, mix of emotional depth and humor, and the performances of the cast, with Hurt and Davis receiving high praise in particular.[4]
