""All of life's riddles are answered in the movies"," says Steve Martin's bullish movie producer in Grand Canyon. Well, not quite all. Writer-director Lawrence Kasdan - - rallying the skill for ensemble drama he showed in 1983's The Big Chill - - tries, but can't quite manage to make sense of LA life, from the ghetto to Hollywood. He invests too many of his ideas in gobby philosophising - - notably by Kevin Kline's musing lawyer - - and not quite enough in the way of compelling drama. All-round cast competence helps keep things anchored, happily, though.
DVD Extras:
Trailer, featurette. If the film fails to shed light on the mystery of life, the featurette sheds precious little more on the mysteries of filmmaking. In fact, it's all over before Kasdan really starts to give a fair account of his lofty aims.
