Grand Canyon

(States Twitter)-Grand Canyon is a 1991 American drama feature film directed and co-written by Lawrence Kasdan and featuring an ensemble cast. It was advertised as "the Big Chill for the '90s", in reference to an earlier Kasdan film.

Synopsis

An immigration lawyer named Mac (Kevin Kline) finds himself at the mercy of potential muggers when his car breaks down in a bad part of town late at night. The muggers are talked out of victimizing Mac by Simon (Danny Glover), a tow-truck driver who arrives just in time. After that night Mac sets out to befriend Simon, despite their having nothing in common. Mac seems unaware that his desire to befriend Simon is actually a form of mid-life crisis, mixed with racial guilt that he is well-off while Simon is struggling financially.

Meanwhile, Mac's wife Claire (Mary McDonnell) and best friend Davis (Steve Martin) are also experiencing life-changing events, when she encounters an abandoned infant as she is jogging and becomes determined to adopt it, he after being shot in the leg by a man trying to steal his watch. A producer of violent action films, Davis suddenly becomes interested in philosophy more than box-office profits, and announces that he will devote the remainder of his career to eliminating violence from the cinema.

Responses

Grand Canyon was met with generally positive reviews,[citation needed] but was considered a minor failure at the box office,[1] and did not reap notable profits until it was released on video. Noted film critics Siskel and Ebert both loved the film, placing it at the #4 (Ebert) and #6 (Siskel) positions on their 1991 top ten lists.

The film won the Golden Bear of Best Film at the 1992 Berlin Film Festival.

[edit]Cast

Mac - Kevin Kline

Simon - Danny Glover

Claire - Mary McDonnell

Davis - Steve Martin

Dee - Mary-Louise Parker

Jane - Alfre Woodard

Roberto - Jeremy Sisto

Deborah - Tina Lifford

Otis - Patrick Malone

The Alley Baron - Randle Mell

Vanessa - Sarah Trigger

Abandoned baby - Twin sisters Candace and Lauren Mead

Rocstar - Shaun Baker

Additional cast

Marlee Matlin plays an uncredited role; she is a mom using sign language to communicate with her child as several youths are being sent off to camp.

Randle Mell, real-life husband of Mary McDonnell, is a homeless man that Claire encounters while jogging.

Marley Shelton can be seen in one of her first roles as Roberto's girlfriend at camp.

Lawrence Kasdan plays an uncredited role; he is berated by Davis for cutting out a "money shot" (a close-up of blood and brains hitting a window) from a particularly violent action scene in one of Davis' movies.