The sound of the heavy metal sound stage door clanging shut behind Davis should have been the end of that movie..... and was when I backed it up a little then hit stop! Ahhhh, that's more like it.
Up to that point this movie ran so deep and true I found myself letting out gasps and sobs...... both catching me completely off guard. It was as if the movie was playing inside of me rather than on that screen.

When Simon grabbed up Otis in his arms my entire body began to throb so hard I felt light-headed. That scene was real for me, and for Jean and Myron Boyd.

Davis' closing comments to Mack were so simple yet profound they freed me from all the anguish I was feeling and as a bonus, gave me a wonderful kick in the butt!

This movie cost only $1.25 to rent for almost the rest of my life. How can this be, how can this be.......

And to keep me from poetic license prison----- I think this is (without the last two scenes) a truly outstanding movie.
Barbara

I loved it. From Simon's (Danny Glover) speech given to the street gang's leader at the beginning of the film, all the way through to Davis' monolog in the golf cart near the end...what a WONDERFUL connection! It came full circle, from the guy in the street to the guy at the top. Even though they never met one another in the story, they were spiritually connected in their disparate ways; Simon, aware of the frustration of it, yet knowing it must be lived through ('habit' his father told him); and Davis, the artist, giving image to it and it's inevitability.

I was thrown off course a bit by Mack (Kevin Kline) as an apparently thoughtful (in the vein of Celestine Prophecy) man trying to 'make' opportunities so that he could then 'seize' them and do good. There was a fine line being woven here; one is that everything we do has impact, and second, that the impact is of great moment...just a smidgeon pretentious, but not sickeningly so. (If you discount the last 5 minutes of the film, that is!)

I think Claire (Mary McDonnell) gave a fine performance of the nurturing mother/woman. She was strong and assertive, but not aggressive.

I am impressed that such a powerful story could be delivered... with no wasted dialog!
Mike

The Grand Canyon reminds me of the Celestine Prophecy and one of its major points: "There are no coincidences". Depending on if you buy into that notion or not you are either going to like or dislike this movie. The characters and story conveyed real life problems of abandonment, coincidence, how much to involve oneself in the lives of those around you, marital boredom, lust, greed and fear of the unknown.

I believe that the director/writer wanted the viewer to know that there was some power in the universe - the earthquake, the coincidences, the voice of the homeless person telling the mother to adopt the baby, and many other moments dismiss the concept of a strictly random world, and embrace a God notion.

The most redeeming character was obviously Simon. He was a savior in many ways but remarkably was able to think clearly in many highly emotional situations. Bravo!!!

Steve Martin's character, the director, was the most feeble of humans. The call to awaken himself from his moral slumber was short lived and he copped out on the idea of trying to make a difference by saying that he was merely portraying what was happening in society. What was happening in society throughout the entire movie was the conflict between good and evil and good winning in many small ways-the saving of Mac, the adoption, the obtainment of a new apartment for Mac's sister, Simon's nephew's realization that gangs were not for him, etc... The director copped out and was deeply rooted in lust and greed.

If it weren't obvious enough, he had what many devil characters have in classic literature-a limp!!!!
Good versus evil, good winning out in small ways-I like it and would recommend it to all of my friends-if I had any :)
Patrick

Sorry, but I did not buy into the sappy story line. I think that the director forgot to include flood and possibly pestilence as plagues for these characters. I found it unfortunate that the white characters were affluent and the black characters were low income. Some what sterotypical movie roles.

It was also unfortunate that the events which attempted to alter or affect the characters had to be cataclysmic in order to attract their attention. These characters were too shallow and full of themselves. Psycho-analyzing the total crap in their lives. Mack was not a real person but a trite individual just gliding through the picture. It did not make sense that he was devoted to his family, yet cheated on his wife with his secretary. I never really believed that he was committed to anyone or anything. He was just a happenstance.

Sorry, but I just did not buy this farm. It reminded me alot of The Big Chill. I still don't understand the attraction to that movie. Those characters were the same way as the characters in this movie. Aimless.

I think that this movie tried too hard and took on too many issues. When you count it up you have poverty, homelessness, child abandonment, mid-life crisis, infidelity, street violence, aging, death, etc, etc etc. Yes these are aspects of real life, but I do not believe that the all occur in the same week to one set of individuals.
Kim

I enjoyed many of the scenes and characters in this film. Three scenes in particular rang very true.

Simon and Mack at breakfast...particularly the exchange after breakfast when Mack hopes he hasn't offended Simon. That awkward, tense-hopeful moment sums up my personal black experience ...the feeling like there are hidden secrets and wisdom and life in the black community ...the desire to be helpful but not patronizing ...the hunger for connection and understanding. The writers/ directors/ actors captured something very real there.

The second scene was near the end when Mack and Claire are discussing miracles, being rational, and having a headache. In that scene is something fundamentally male and female ...and at the risk of offending folks in the group, I'll put it in print... hidden within being male is not caring for anyone else (or fearing that you don't care for anyone else) and combatting it by doing things for other people. Watch Mack be totally rational throughout the film...put his "good deeds" in counterpoint with his treatment of his secretary ("I never lied to you.") That secretary is in this movie for a reason. And hidden within being female is getting what you want, even if that means self-delusion. Watch Claire get that baby.

And the third scene is the one where Davis and Mack are riding to Stage 20 on a golf cart. I must say another movie has captured my brother. That particular brand of ugly honesty which takes me aback and then makes me laugh. I can't fault Davis in his logic.

I don't think I got the BIG picture of this movie...probably by reason of resistance. That helicopter makes me think there was something more...and the constant references to the Grand Canyon...and the scenes they chose to show. I know the film was trying to say more; however, I was content to enjoy moments, to nod in agreement at the insights I saw portrayed so clearly.
Vicki