The Discoverers

This is a nice little gem I just discovered on cable. It features Griffin Dunne, the hapless (and ever-present) victim from American Werewolf in London. He's an out of luck professor struggling to get by and see his 6,000 page epic on Lewis and Clark's expedition published by someone. Divorced, he plans to take his two teenage kids to the Pacific when family troubles interfere. This is fun slice-of-life, Dunne maintains (usually) his composure among all the troubles he faces, including flak from his teenage daughter (marvelously played by Martin) and distracted teenage son. Into the mix steps Cara Buono, of Beer League, to ease his pain. I'll watch Cara in almost anything and she is great in this. Stuart Margolin (Angel from The Rockford files) plays Dunne's dysfunctional dad. The highlight is the kids' forced march on a "discovery trek", but the movie as a whole works well with a nice wrap.