Justin Schwarz’s feature writing and directing debut, The Discoverers, explores quotidian film territory: the dysfunctional family on a road trip. Nearly a genre all its own, films like Little Miss Sunshine, The Darjeeling Limited or even We’re the Millers easily come to mind. In these films, misfit and outcast characters learn first-hand that the journey is more important than the final destination. And as in real life, road trips are generally considered successful if all parties arrive unscathed and are still on speaking terms. (Alan Arkin’s Little Miss Sunshine character being the exception to this rule.)
The Discoverers follows this familiar pattern, but a smart script and an endearing father-daughter relationship between veteran actor Griffin Dunne and Madeleine Martin (who plays David Duchovny’s daughter on Showtime’s Californication) save it from becoming too formulaic.
In the film, Dunne plays a has-been history professor—once the youngest history faculty member at the University of Chicago—who now works nights as a security guard to supplement his community college teaching gig. In academia, it’s publish or perish, and Birch’s fall from grace was precipitated by his inability to finish his magnum opus—a now 6,000-page book on York, a slave who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their Corps of Discovery Expedition through the Western United States.
Birch’s downward professional spiral has also affected his personal life, costing him his marriage while straining the relationship with his teenage kids: the smart, wisecracking vegan, Zoe (Martin), and her artistic, introverted brother, Jack (Devon Graye). Under the guise of a family vacation, he and the kids head for a conference in Oregon, where he’ll present in advance of finally getting published by a small college press.
Their road trip is sidetracked almost immediately when Lewis gets a call from his brother (John C. McGinley) to check in on their sickly parents in Idaho. Lewis finds his mother dead on the bathroom floor and his father Stanley (Stuart Margolin) nearly catatonic with grief. The day after the funeral, Stanley disappears, causing Lewis to move his presentation toward the end of the conference to buy time while they look for his father.
Birch knows exactly where his father has gone: Stanley has joined the annual Lewis and Clark re-enactment trek, assuming the persona of “Captain Clark.” It’s the same wilderness adventure that his father foisted upon the family for years. Birch, Zoe and Jack join the re-enactors, but are mandated to adhere to historically accurate clothing and lifestyle. During this quirky journey, Birch and the kids try and coax Stanley back to reality while inadvertently re-connecting with each other. Lewis even finds a chance at romance again with Nell (an endearing Cara Buono), a Discovery adventure participant who knew his mother.
The father-daughter bonding grows as Lewis and Zoe traverse the woods. (Jack’s largely distracted by one of the trek’s prettier participants.) With Nell’s help, Lewis whips up a vegan birthday cake for his daughter. (Yes, it’s highly improbable in the middle of nowhere, but just go with it.) He also helps Zoe deal with her first period when she’s advised to remain “historically accurate” in dealing with her flow. They hitchhike into town, and she smartly tricks two teen bullies into giving her money to pay for the feminine products. In return, it’s Zoe who saves her father from a massive meltdown when he learns that another writer has already published a book on York.
Martin is a joy to watch, even though her character seems written for someone years beyond her age. As Zoe, her comic timing is impeccable, delivering her lines with sarcasm and irony. And while Lewis is largely a sad sack whose professional and personal paralysis is analogous to his father’s emotional breakdown, Dunne’s performance largely keeps the character from wallowing too much in self-pity.
Thanks largely to work by cinematographer Chris Blauvelt, who lensed Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff and Sofia Coppola’s Bling Ring, there’s a nostalgic look to the film, similar to an old home movie. There are several shots in which the camera tracks the trekkers walking through the woods; they’re quiet moments, but beautiful to watch.
The film stumbles toward the end with a convoluted, cathartic moment for Stanley’s grief. Lewis’s journey of self-discovery ends a little too neatly, and the family bonds a little too easily. In The Discoverers, Schwarz has seemingly tried to emulate a little of Wes Anderson’s tone, quirkiness and humor, and although The Discoverers is a long, long way from The Darjeeling Limited, it’s still a commendable first try.
Christine N. Ziemba is a Los Angeles-based pop culture writer and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow her on Twitter.
Director: Justin Schwarz
Writer: Justin Schwarz
Starring: Griffin Dunne, Madeleine Martin (Zoe Birch), Devon Graye (Jack Birch), Stuart Margolin (Stanley Birch), Cara Buono (Nell Pope)
Release Date: May 16, 2014