The Daytrippers

This low budget gem is a charming take on the road movie genre which balances equal amounts of humour and melancholy as it traces a day in the life of a middle class American family. The films events are set off by a love letter that is discovered one morning by Eliza D’Amico (Hope Davis), which is addressed to her husband Louis (Stanley Tucci) and is signed, ‘Forever Sandy’. The distraught Eliza enlists the advice of her close knit family who decide the best course of action is to head into the city and confront Louis at work. So Eliza, her parents, her younger sister Jo (Parker Posey), and her sister’s bookish boyfriend, Carl (Liev Schreiber), all jump in the family car and head to Manhattan. The film then takes on a classic road movie structure as they meet various people on their trip, suffer a few mishaps, and have their own personal revelations along the way. The script by first time director Greg Mottola is full of tender observations and sharp one liners, while the film boasts a wonderful ensemble cast which also includes Pat McNamara, Annie Meara and Campbell Scott.