The Daytrippers (1997)

[Scottie]

With its droll humor and bittersweet emotional heft, the feature debut of writer-director Greg Mottola announced the arrival of an unassumingly sharp-witted new talent on the 1990s indie scene. When she discovers a love letter written to her husband (Stanley Tucci) by an unknown paramour, the distraught Eliza (Hope Davis) turns to her tight-knit Long Island family for advice. Soon the entire clan—strong-willed mom (Anne Meara), taciturn dad (Pat McNamara), and jaded sister (Parker Posey) with pretentious boyfriend (Liev Schreiber) in tow—has squeezed into a station wagon and headed into Manhattan to find out the truth, kicking off a one-crazy-day odyssey full of unexpected detours and life-changing revelations. Performed with deadpan virtuosity by a top-flight ensemble cast, The Daytrippers is a wry and piercing look at family bonds stretched to the breaking point.

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Greg Mottola, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New audio commentary featuring Mottola, editor Anne McCabe, and producer Steven Soderbergh
• New interviews with Mottola and cast members Hope Davis, Parker Posey, Liev Schreiber, and Campbell Scott
• The Hatbox, a 1985 short film by Mottola, with audio commentary by the director
• PLUS: An essay by critic Emily Nussbaum

https://www.criterion.com/films/29464-the-daytrippers

[bonehica]

Definitely will be picking this up during the November B&N sale.

[donidarko]

What a fantastic surprise. Everyone in this is in top form. A perfect Thanksgiving holiday release. This movie is hilarious and I love it! Thank you Criterion!!!

[Dubstar]

I love the cast, yet i've never seen this - go figure - day one purchase!

[silverlakephil]

Parker Posey! Everybody looked so young in that clip. What happened?!

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

Parker Posey! Everybody looked so young in that clip. What happened?!

Most people age. You one of those people that somehow avoided aging?

[mparisi]

Great film- can't believe we are getting this! Can finally retire my old vhs tape. Now we just need SubUrbia on blu!

[FragnitoM]

This was definitely a nice surprise. 90s American indies were such a formative part of my love for films growing up as a tween-teen in the 90s. I need more.

Some on the top of my head that could use a good bluray...

The Limey, Big Night, High Art, Walking and Talking, Next Stop Wonderland, Mr Jealousy, Kicking & Screaming, Hard Eight, Happiness, Kafka, House Of Yes, To Die For, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Henry Fool, Basquiat... etc etc

Not that Criterion would release them but I feel like there’s a huge amount of 90s film that got released in the early days of DVD with crappy transfers that could use some love

[CMHDude01]

Glad to see this coming out, haven't seen it in years. Great movie.

[FragnitoM]

picked this up today and it looks really great considering the limitations of the production. Had only ever seen it on VHS and then the pan & scan that was released in the early days of DVD. I love when Criterion can take a less popular title and give us an upgrade in presentation. Looking forward to viewing the supplements tonight

[PowellPressburger]

Watching now

Its a Black Friday film!

Takes place nite of Thanksgiving and mainly the day after Thanksgiving

[losabio]

Blind bought this one at the B&N sale -- I like it! They name check Cassavetes and Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Moto Maintenance) in the round table discussion extra, which was a cool affirmation (for me) that I had chosen a movie that was well-suited to my tastes, as if simply enjoying the movie weren't enough proof of that. One cool thing about the Criterion Channel is that I feel good about taking fliers on blind buys -- like The Daytrippers -- during the B&N sale now, since I've been able to view so many would've-been blind buys on the CC.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Never even heard of The Daytrippers prior to this thread. Sounds great & interesting. I'm a big fan of '90's indie films, and the NYC setting makes me want to see this even more. I will definitely be checking this out.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Watched TD about a month ago, on the new Blu disk. Great presentation. This is a perfect movie to watch during the holidays, given that most of the story takes place on the day after Thanksgiving.

This is an interesting indie film that has a solid pace, good story, and fantastic cast; Parker Posey & Hope Davis especially stood out here - great performances. Re: the story itself, I actually found the "journey" the characters took more interesting than the finale/resolution.

Some of my favorite scenes:

-When the group ended up being inadvertently invited into the apartment of the student and his father. And, it turned out the father was "on the lam" from both debtors & his wife, who was after him for child support (for their younger children) - LOL.

-When one of the characters was inadvertently pulled into the argument(s) between the two sisters, who were cleaning out their dead mother's apartment & fighting over her belongings.

I also enjoyed the extreme contrast between the early "bland" scenes of suburban home life & the later "sophisticated" NYC party w/intellectuals, etc. - LOL.

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

Some on the top of my head that could use a good bluray...

The Limey, Big Night, High Art, Walking and Talking, Next Stop Wonderland, Mr Jealousy, Kicking & Screaming, Hard Eight, Happiness, Kafka, House Of Yes, To Die For, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Henry Fool, Basquiat... etc etc

Hell yes - I would be all for getting the majority of these on Blu. IIRC The Limey is getting a high-def stream soon (if it's not already out), but I prefer physical copies.