Grand Canyon ««½
R, 134m. 1991
Cast & Credits: Kevin Kline (Mack), Danny Glover (Simon), Mary McDonnell (Claire), Mary Louise Parker (Dee), Alfre Woodward (Jane), Steve Martin (Davis). Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Meg Kasdan. Directed by Lawrence Kasdan.
R, 134m. 1991
Cast & Credits: Kevin Kline (Mack), Danny Glover (Simon), Mary McDonnell (Claire), Mary Louise Parker (Dee), Alfre Woodward (Jane), Steve Martin (Davis). Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Meg Kasdan. Directed by Lawrence Kasdan.
A thought came to mind after seeing Grand Canyon, director Lawrence Kasdan’s latest film about people trying to cope with their personal as well as societal problems in the 1990s. I thought of Billy Joel’s hit song, “We didn’t start the fire,” which is on his album, Stormfront.
The song was a five minute summarization of real life events past and present such as wars, AIDS, and drugs that have confronted society from the 1950s to the 1990s. While Grand Canyon doesn’t cover any historical ground, it does address issues people sometimes face today.
The film deals with just about every controversial issue you can think of. There are so many references to drive-by shootings in gangland neighborhoods, crime, the homeless, traffic problems, and nuclear arms that I was surprised Kasdan didn’t cover the AIDS virus and unemployment.
Grand Canyon also explores the personal problems the six main characters go through living in the city of Los Angeles. Mack (Kevin Kline) is an immigration lawyer who has reached a point in his life where he doesn’t think society will get any better. At the same time, he seems bored with his marriage and is having an affair with his secretary, Dee (Mary Louise Parker).
Claire (Mary McDonnell), Mack’s wife, is a mother in her early forties who comes to the sudden realization that her 15-year old son is growing up and wishes she could go back to raising a child all over again.
Simon (Danny Glover) is a divorced tow truck driver who never lets the fact he isn’t dating anyone bother him. Besides his job, Simon must also worry about his daughter who’s deaf and lives away from home and his younger sister whose family lives in a crime-infested neighborhood run by gangs.
Finally, there is Jane (Alfre Woodard) who doesn’t let the world’s problems bother her, and Davis (Steve Martin), a film producer who makes violent movies.
Grand Canyon offers up some memorable moments thanks to the screenplay, written by Kasdan and his wife that provides some clever insights about Los Angeles that could easily apply to any major metropolitan city. The movie opens with a police helicopter flying over L.A. leaving the impression that today’s cities aren’t as safe as they used to be. The screenwriters even add a dose of sentimentality as in the scene where Claire must report an orphaned infant to the police after caring for it.
The trouble is Grand Canyon spends too much time dwelling on the “what if” question. What if Claire didn’t hear the child’s cries as she was jogging one morning? What if Simon hadn’t come to Mack’s rescue when his car broke down in a rough neighborhood? The answers to these questions are easy and predictable.
The characters Kasdan created in his earlier film, The Big Chill (1983), were about people from different backgrounds who pondered life in the eighties after living through the sixties. Grand Canyon’s characters are people who are just trying to make it day after day.
The film shed no more new insight on my feelings about society than what I already knew and felt right down to its climax which says something positive.
In the last scene, as the cast looks out at the “Grand Canyon”, Simon asks Mack what he thinks.
“It’s not all bad,” Mack says.
The idea is even though it is a cruel world there are still things worth living for and worth seeing.
I’ve always known that. I didn’t need a movie to tell me this.
©2/6/92
The song was a five minute summarization of real life events past and present such as wars, AIDS, and drugs that have confronted society from the 1950s to the 1990s. While Grand Canyon doesn’t cover any historical ground, it does address issues people sometimes face today.
The film deals with just about every controversial issue you can think of. There are so many references to drive-by shootings in gangland neighborhoods, crime, the homeless, traffic problems, and nuclear arms that I was surprised Kasdan didn’t cover the AIDS virus and unemployment.
Grand Canyon also explores the personal problems the six main characters go through living in the city of Los Angeles. Mack (Kevin Kline) is an immigration lawyer who has reached a point in his life where he doesn’t think society will get any better. At the same time, he seems bored with his marriage and is having an affair with his secretary, Dee (Mary Louise Parker).
Claire (Mary McDonnell), Mack’s wife, is a mother in her early forties who comes to the sudden realization that her 15-year old son is growing up and wishes she could go back to raising a child all over again.
Simon (Danny Glover) is a divorced tow truck driver who never lets the fact he isn’t dating anyone bother him. Besides his job, Simon must also worry about his daughter who’s deaf and lives away from home and his younger sister whose family lives in a crime-infested neighborhood run by gangs.
Finally, there is Jane (Alfre Woodard) who doesn’t let the world’s problems bother her, and Davis (Steve Martin), a film producer who makes violent movies.
Grand Canyon offers up some memorable moments thanks to the screenplay, written by Kasdan and his wife that provides some clever insights about Los Angeles that could easily apply to any major metropolitan city. The movie opens with a police helicopter flying over L.A. leaving the impression that today’s cities aren’t as safe as they used to be. The screenwriters even add a dose of sentimentality as in the scene where Claire must report an orphaned infant to the police after caring for it.
The trouble is Grand Canyon spends too much time dwelling on the “what if” question. What if Claire didn’t hear the child’s cries as she was jogging one morning? What if Simon hadn’t come to Mack’s rescue when his car broke down in a rough neighborhood? The answers to these questions are easy and predictable.
The characters Kasdan created in his earlier film, The Big Chill (1983), were about people from different backgrounds who pondered life in the eighties after living through the sixties. Grand Canyon’s characters are people who are just trying to make it day after day.
The film shed no more new insight on my feelings about society than what I already knew and felt right down to its climax which says something positive.
In the last scene, as the cast looks out at the “Grand Canyon”, Simon asks Mack what he thinks.
“It’s not all bad,” Mack says.
The idea is even though it is a cruel world there are still things worth living for and worth seeing.
I’ve always known that. I didn’t need a movie to tell me this.
©2/6/92
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