The Daytrippers

As Seen On TV

The Daytrippers is a small film, where not a lot seemingly happens, but a lot happens to the characters in the film. With no hook to make people notice, it creeps quietly in, does its job and leaves again. But one is left with the impression that you have just seen a good film.

The story gets going with the discovery of a love note, with a quote from a 17th century poet within, for the husband, but not from the wife. Eliza (Hope Davis) doesn't want to believe her husband (Stanley Tucci) is having an affair, so she goes into New York, where he works for a publishing company, to find out. In doing so, she brings along her jumbled family: her flaky sister Jo (Parker Posey); Jo's intellectually-minded boyfriend Carl (Liev Schrieber); her annoying mother (Anne Meara); and her long suffering dad (Patrick Macnamara). Being trapped in a car for long periods at a time allows tensions to simmer and dialogue to sparkle.

With a soundtrack of acoustic guitar songs and a naturalistic feeling to the visuals, the film has a gentle feel to it. The film allows time for the characters to breathe and for us to get to know them. Their company is engaging, funny, strange, bizarre and fractured, and the writer/ director isn't afraid to let the camera just watch the actors act. Campbell Scott cameos as a charming writer, which he does with ease, like all the actors who are of the "I've seen them somewhere else, aren't they good in this?" variety. The film seems to end before you want it to, more because you want to spend more time with the characters and find out what happens to them in the future, which is the sign of a good film.

Rating: DAVE