Plot

When she discovers a love letter written to her husband by an unknown paramour, the distraught Eliza turns to her tight-knit Long Island family for advice.

Eliza D'Amico thinks her marriage to Louis is going great until she finds a mysterious love note to her husband. Concerned, she goes to her mother for advice. Eliza, her parents, her sister Jo, and Jo's boyfriend all pile into a station wagon to go into the city to confront Louis with the letter. On the way, the five explore their relationships with one another and meet many interesting people.—Mike Myers <mmyers@ucsd.edu>

Eliza D'Amico loves her husband Louis and believes he loves her. Her beliefs are tested on the day after Thanksgiving when she finds behind her bedroom dresser a letter written by "Sandy" to Louis which references poet Andrew Marvell. Unsure what the letter means, Eliza asks her working-class parents, Rita and Jim Malone, and her sister Jo and Jo's intellectual boyfriend Carl Petrovic, who are visiting from Michigan for the holiday weekend, what they think. The five decide to drive from the Malones' Deer Park, Long Island home into New York City to find Louis and/or find clues as to the meaning of the letter's contents. As they go on their search through the day and into the night, they do find more and more evidence, which they all believe is still inconclusive. But they also meet a variety of people with whom they share their story, and learn the stories of these new people, including a sex-starved man who tells the story of his latest conquest to anyone who will listen; a writer who out-intellectualizes Carl; a father and son, one of whom is hiding from the law; sisters dealing with their mother's estate; and a woman who is trying to pick up her ex-boyfriend at a party. Through it all, the day's events not only affect Eliza and her marriage, but the family dynamic as well.—Huggo

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 film 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.—Anonymous