The Daytrippers (1997)

Before the shockingly good teen comedy "Superbad" and the wistful, sentimental post-collegiate angst of "Adventureland", even before his now famous TV work, director Greg Mottola made this 1996 gem "The Daytrippers". The film, like Mottola's other films, works a familiar and unpromising premise into a genuine, heartfelt, wonderful observation on human behavior. The film, while rougher around the edges technically and as a script than either "Superbad" (written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) and "Adventureland" (written by Mottola himself, as "The Daytrippers" is), is yet another distinctive and memorable Mottola film. The plot is pretty much covered by the film's tagline: "One station wagon. Two generations. Three couples. Four relationships", but much like Mottola's other films ("Superbad": Two best friends and a nerdy semi-friend attempt to get laid before graduation. "Adventureland": college grad works at amusement park and falls in love) the plot doesn't really give any indication of how good the film is. Great script overall by Mottola with terrific characterization and dialogue which rings true, not to mention mature handling of the relationships as well as a good dose of humor. An excellent cast (at their best too, Mottola's great work with actors on display yet again) including Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis, Liev Schrieber, and Parker Posey bring the script to life well, and Mottola's storytelling skills and comic timing as director are, even this early in his career, excellent. Not as good as his later work, but Mottola shows great promise with this early film. Cannot wait for "Paul", which promises to be absolutely brilliant if his career follows the path it's on (getting better with every film).

The early to mid 1990s produced countless films in relation to the romantic spectrum, and I was expecting The Daytrippers to be another one of them. Whereas I found the "comedy" portion of the movie to be misleading, I still found it to be a worthwhile and decent film. Not all movies need to be entirely deep or philisophical, and this one was a nice change to a lot of what I've seen lately.Eliza Eliza D'Amico (Hope Davis) is walking through her bedroom one morning when she stumbles on a curious love note scribed to her husband. Wanting to get to the bottom of it, she brings the note to the attention of her parents, sister, and the sister's boyfriend Carl.Collectively, they travel to New York for the day to investigate.Along the way, Carl (Liev Schreiber) tells the family all about his "Dr. Seuss for adults" novel he's writing, and the mother (Anne Meara) eats her heart out as his intellectual merryment. Eventually, of course, all havoc breaks loose, as everyone's nerves are wrought by each other, and the trip turns into an explosive dramatic result.The Daytrippers is an actually interesting movie in that it isn't 100% predictable, and leaves a little bit to the audience's guessing with the hanger ending. The weakest faults of the movie are that some of the scenes are entirely pointless, and the film is so short that it seems they tried to fill it with a bit of crap to lengthen it. Otherwise, the film has a lot of interesting little plotlines which could easily produce better spin-offs.

Daytrippers is a progressive drama about a family that takes an adventure into New York City after Eliza (Hope Davis) discovers a love letter that may uncover an affair between her husband and somebody named Sandy. Anne Meara does a good job as the typical East Coast, controlling mother. The indie-film queen Parker Posey plays Eliza's little sister whose boyfriend Carl, played by Liev Schreiber, is an exaggeration of the young, snobbish, know-it-all author. The family is hardly functional which makes this film particularly honest.The key to Daytrippers is not the plot, which never fails to keep you watching, but the dialogue and the situations. Pay close attention to the characters that the family meets in the city. They all embody some kind of contradictions that make you think a little bit. Look for the scene where Marc Grapey begins describing his sexual exploits by condemning such practices.If you are looking for a drama that provokes you, this is one of them. There are no happy endings and none of the issues raised are resolved. Fans of Parker Posey will especially enjoy her performance in this one.

This is a movie I enjoy watching just to see how the different characters react to one another. This is some of the most enjoyable dialogue that I've seen in a comedy that doesn't involve cheap gags or punchlines. Very well written.