Plot
An immigration lawyer named Mac (Kevin Kline) finds himself at the mercy of potential muggers when his car breaks down in a bad part of Los Angeles late at night. The muggers are talked out of victimizing Mac by Simon (Danny Glover), a tow truck driver who arrives just in time. After that night Mac sets out to befriend Simon, despite their having nothing in common.
Meanwhile, Mac's wife Claire (Mary McDonnell) and best friend Davis (Steve Martin) a producer of violent action films, are also experiencing life-changing events, when Claire encounters an abandoned infant as she is jogging and becomes determined to adopt it. Davis suddenly becomes interested in philosophy more than box-office profits after being shot in the leg by a man trying to steal his watch, and announces that he will devote the remainder of his career to eliminating violence from the cinema.
The film chronicles how these characters – as well as various acquaintances, co-workers and relatives – are affected by their interactions in the light of these life-changing events. In the end, all the characters converge at the Grand Canyon on a shared vacation trip, united in a place that is philosophically and actually "bigger" than all their little separate lives.
Read more about this topic: Grand Canyon (1991 Film)
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“Ends in themselves, my letters plot no change;
They carry nothing dutiable; they won’t
Aspire, astound, establish or estrange.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“After I discovered the real life of mothers bore little resemblance to the plot outlined in most of the books and articles I’d read, I started relying on the expert advice of other mothers—especially those with sons a few years older than mine. This great body of knowledge is essentially an oral history, because anyone engaged in motherhood on a daily basis has no time to write an advice book about it.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
““The plot thickens,” he said, as I entered.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)