Grand Canyon [DVD]

The tagline of Grand Canyon is perfect: “In the 1980s, director Lawrence Kasdan brought you The Big Chill. Welcome to the ‘90s.” In this ensemble drama, cultures and families in Southern California collide amidst an introduction to the decade. Kevin Kline, married to Mary McDonnell but having an affair at the office with Mary-Louise Parker, has a life-changing experience when his car breaks down in Inglewood. A group of punks start to harass him, but the garage mechanic called on the scene, Danny Glover, has a frank discussion and convinces them to leave him alone. Kevin feels a connection to Danny, and their lives intermingle through the rest of the film.Danny’s world is vastly different from Kevin’s, as he tries to help his sister and her children get out from a bad neighborhood. Her oldest son falls in with the wrong crowd and doesn’t listen to his uncle’s advice, sadly answering to the question of whether he still wants to be in a gang when he’s twenty-five, “I’ll never live to be 25.” This movie is full of difficult truths about how the “other half” lives, race relations, midlife crises, infidelity, coming-of age romance, and the sad cynicism of real life. With Steve Martin as a bottom-line movie director given the opportunity to change his worldview, Alfre Woodard as Danny’s adorable and sexy love interest, and Jeremy Sisto as Kevin and Mary’s teenage son, every scene is memorable in this classic from the ‘90s.You’ve got to watch this movie. Full of symbolism and realism, it’ll become one of your favorites the first time you watch it. Ladies, a warning: after falling in love with this movie, you might take a photo of Mary McDonnell to your hairdresser, like I did! If this movie were made today, her character would undoubtedly be played by Jennifer Connelly. She’s a privileged wife who works out of interest rather than necessity and whose strong beliefs tend to back up what she wants rather than what makes sense. If it were any other actress playing the part, I probably would cringe every time she opens her mouth, but Mary’s so adorable, I can’t help but like her. She does the best she can with her lines, which are, like everyone else’s, extremely realistic.Not a single line of the Kasdans’ screenplay is accidental, and while it’s difficult to pinpoint a mere handful of lines as the best, each character is given his or her own “nutshell” line of dialogue. Alfre tells Mary-Louise that “the lucky ones” feel they’re on the verge of constant hysteria. Danny delivers heartbreaking lines about how life has turned out far more complicated than it should be, and that he should be able to peacefully work in his garage without asking a kid with a gun not to shoot him. Mary makes the audience wonder about the power of the universe, suggesting to her husband that his new friend might last the rest of his life. Steve breaks the struggle of life into two topics: fear and control. If somehow the ‘90s passed you by and you never watched Grand Canyon, buy yourself a copy. As sad as it is, nothing has changed, and almost everything in the movie feels like it was filmed yesterday.

I saw this film at a local cineplex when it was first released and since then, I've revisited "Grand Canyon" at least a dozen times. Here are a ten observations:1. This film's theatrical release took place around the time that the Rodney King trial was getting underway, and the ensuing LA riots would take place some months later. It's interesting how the underlying theme of "Grand Canyon" preceeded the "Can't we all just get along," thrust of King's later remark to the news media in the wake of the riots.2. Kevin Kline does a good job of portraying an immigration lawyer who is having an affair with his secretary; Danny Glover and Mary McDonnell are okay in portraying a tow truck driver and a modern LA mom, respectively; and probably because he had nothing to do with the producing, directing or writing involved in this film, his role in "Grand Canyon" happens to be one of Steve Martin's better performances.3. The only special effects in this movie are in a dream sequence of Kevin Kline flying through the night air in metropolitan Los Angeles. Otherwise, there are no car explosions, flying monkeys, no interglactic arks transporting shipments of minerals through deep space, no aliens blowing holes through buildings, and no Whoopie Goldberg.4. One element missing in the movie is humor. Aside from Glover's remark that the Kline character may not know many black people, there really isn't much to laugh or even smile about; this lack of humor alone seems to make the characters less human and more like puppets in some morality play about undesirable behavior and human nature that plods along slowly, but methodically.5. Everything got thrown into this movie except the kitchen sink. I suppose the whole concept of all these significant events (a rescue from would-be muggers in a bad part of LA, finding an abandoned baby, being shot by a gunman at close range, etc.) happening all at once may have looked good on paper, but in transition to film, I found myself thinking how implausible such an unrelated chain of events happening to a few people within a few hours would be.6. The thought that everyone should get together and that miracles really can happen are fine sentiments, but halfway through "Grand Canyon," I was wondering what Kadsan was going to throw in for a Grand Finale: The Kline Character discovers a body buried in his backyard? The Glover character dies in a bar fight? The Mary McDonnell character turns lesbo? Kenny Rogers buys vast tracts of Brentwood in order to build an amusement park/dude ranch?7. At the very end of the film, everybody piles in a van and they all drive to the Grand Canyon, where they gaze in dumbfoundedness at this awesome natural wonder. I guess if this movie had been written by Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise) Kevin Kline would have driven the van off a cliff... I guess Kasdan must have decided against this sort of ending because he couldn't find enough room to put Ridley Scott in the van.8. Probably because the white Ford Bronco didn't even exist at that time, no mention is ever made of O.J. Simpson. At the time this film was being developed, O.J. was still being filmed running through airports with old ladies and business suits cheering him on. Clearly, I was disappointed that some featurette including vignettes of O.J.'s struggles wasn't included on the dvd, because witnessing the O.J. trial was a lot like experiencing a vast cultural divide for us working stiffs.9. On the dvd that I bought, you have to fast-forward through all of this crap to get to the main menu. I hope someday that the idiots who direct the manufacturing of these things realize how much they are pissing people off by doing this.10. Despite many of the above observations, the dvd film version of "Grand Canyon" is excellent. "Grand Canyon" has a lot going for it, or else I wouldn't have given it five stars. Great Cinematography. Great Soundtrack. Excellent casting. I certainly enjoyed it, even though the actual story line was slightly weak.

If you like older movies, this one's for you! We enjoyed it thoroughly!

Grand Canyon is one of those movies that was not appreciated at first ,but years later after seeing in through fresh ( Older ) eyes I'm amazed at how relevant it is now. Instead of going through what it is about, simply I just want to say how it is a preclude to movies like Crash and The TV Series Touch. These are about chance encounters with people that have a ripple affect in ways we cannot predict.The ensemble gels well together, but it is Danny Glover's and Kevin Kline's Characters that steer this boat and without it being over the top mushy, it simply gives us a view of how maybe we take chance encounters for granted.I watched this today and was blown away, especially the scene in the Diner when Kevin Kline takes Danny Glover to Breakfast is so well done.If you like movies that focus on characters, then get this.

Good movie :)

Magnífica....!!!

È arrivato puntuale e in ottime condizioni.Il film è eccezionale

I sent the DVD back because I hadn't realised when I bought it that it was Italian, I didn't read the description properly. I haven't been able to purchase an English copy which will work in Australia. I'd appreciate it if you could help me.

Super film !!! toujours d actualité.Vu a sa sortie il y a 25 ans peu être, il était resté dans ma mémoire comme d un film a revoir pour ce faire du bien les jours tristes.Et bien j ai pas changer d avis.