| The Discoverers | |
| Director: | Justin Schwarz |
| Producer: | Bob Gosse Laura Kleger Louise Lovegrove Justin Schwarz |
| Starring: | Griffin Dunne Madeleine Martin Cara Buono David Rasche Stuart Margolin Devon Graye Dreama Walker Scott Adsit Becky Ann Baker Ann Dowd John C. McGinley |
| Cinematography: | Christopher Blauvelt |
| Editing: | Geraud Brisson |
| Music: | Aaron Mirman |
| Studio: | Quadratic Media |
| Distributor: | Quadratic Media |
| Runtime: | 104 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Discoverers is a 2012 American dark comedy directed and written by Justin Schwarz. The film stars Griffin Dunne, Madeleine Martin, and Cara Buono.
Washed-up history professor Lewis Birch (Oscar and Emmy nominated Griffin Dunne) takes his begrudging teenage kids – Zoe (Madeleine Martin, “Californication”) and Jack (Devon Graye, “American Horror Stories”) – on a road trip to a conference in hopes of putting his career back on track. But, when Lewis’s estranged father Stanley (Emmy Award-winning Stuart Margolin) goes AWOL on a Lewis and Clark historical reenactment trek, Lewis is forced to make a family detour. The Birch family find themselves on a journey of discovery and connection as they make their own passage west.[1]
The film was a New York Times Critic's Pick.[2], the film holds an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 26 reviews with an average rating of 6.24 out of 10. The website's critics consensus reads: "The Discoverers is occasionally guilty of contrived silliness, but its humor and genuine warmth are more than enough to compensate for its modest shortcomings."[3]