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Academy Errwards
Err Travel · June 6, 2000

I like to think of these Err Travel columns as resources where travelers can learn from the misadventures and misfortunes of others. Every week I hear about the jams in which travelers have found themselves. I use these stories as object lessons for the rest of us.

On a larger scale though, minor travel screw-ups get little attention while major calamities are often the subject of film. Every few years, audiences are exposed to flics about wimpy tourists being kidnapped then spending their time as hostages waiting for Jean-Claude, Sylvester, or Arnold to come to their rescue.

More often we see the staple of travel catastrophe movies: airplanes and airport disasters. (Get ready for the made-for-television movie that will surely come from the Alaska Airlines crash off the California coast last month.) And just a couple of years ago, the movie-going public was smitten big-time with a boat that hit a chunk of ice and sank.

Perhaps we can learn vicariously from watching the fictional misfortunes of other travelers from the safety of our couches. Toward that end, I offer in evidence the following four movies that I recently rented:

·· Accidental Tourist
(1988) Warner Bros. [PG-rating]
121 minutes

Though its title states "tourist," this picture is really about a business travel writer. Some scenes are introduced with rather good advice offered by the protagonist even though he committed some security misdemeanors of his own while on the road. This film was the longest of the four - made to seem even more so by William Hurt's performance as a droopy travel writer who dislikes leaving the house. Geena Davis, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress, plays an entertaining and kooky character but is unable to get this movie moving.

··· Out-of-Towners
(1970) Paramount Pictures [G-rating]
98 minutes

Jack Lemon and Sandy Dennis as George (why is it always a George or a Harry or a Henry?) and Gwen Kellerman from Twin Oaks, Ohio take every wrong turn in Neil Simon's misadventure of county folk goin' to the big city. Though somewhat dated - a taxi ride in Boston cost $1.75 - the plight of this couple can draw empathy from anyone who has found himself at the mercy of an airline agent, hotel clerk, taxi driver, or even the weather.

·· Out-of-Towners
(1999) Paramount Pictures [PG-rating]
90 minutes

This remake, which loosely follows the original screenplay, is nowhere as entertaining (or instructive to travelers) as the 1970 version. John Cleese provides a nice performance as a condescending (and cross-dressing) hotel manager, and Steve Martin, as Henry Clark, does a good job of demonstrating "the New York walk." But the comedy that is built on Mr. and Mrs. Clark's travel nightmare gets thinned by mixing it with middle-age, relationship, and family issues.

···· Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
(1987) Paramount Pictures [R-rating]
93 minutes

Steve Martin appears again - this time playing the accidental and reluctant travel companion of John Candy. Of the four movies reviewed here, I like this one the best. In fact, I like this movie when compared to films of any category. It's a "must see" for every business traveler who thinks that things just couldn't get any worse.

Oh, and my review of the-big-boat-hitting-an-iceberg movie: Long and wet.

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.