Our closest relatives may be weird, tacky and relentlessly annoying, but at times of crisis it's still comforting to count on their support.

"The Daytrippers" uncannily captures this sense of warmth and reassurance, while sketching the hilarious follies and foibles of each of its flawed, ultimately endearing family members.

The central figure in this splendid film is a sensitive school teacher (Hope Davis) in suburban Long Island who seems to enjoy a passionate, perfect marriage with her witty book-editor husband (Stanley Tucci).

On the day after Thanksgiving dinner, however, she discovers what appears to be a love note addressed to him and then drives to her Irish-American parents' blue-collar home to discuss her suspicions.

Her domineering, opinionated and incurably talkative mother (Ann Meara) suggests a family field trip to Manhattan to confront the possibly straying husband at the publishing house where he works.

Feeling numb and stunned, the worried wife joins her mother and her silent, long-suffering dad (Pat McNamara) for the long ride in their battered station wagon, along with her rebellious kid sister (Parker Posey) who's home from college with her fatuous boyfriend (Liev Schreiber).

One of the movie's most amusing elements is this earnest lout's insistent, appallingly detailed descriptions of the novel he plans to write: "It's an allegory about spiritual survival in the contemporary world ... It's about a man who's born with the head of a dog."

Liev Schreiber does a superb job making us care about this pathetic yutz, and, in fact, all the movie's performances are world-class.

Best of all is Hope Davis in the lead role: She's an acclaimed stage actress who has previously played bit parts in forgettable films like "Flatliners" and "Mr. Wrong" but here shows unmistakable potential for first-rank stardom.

There's a pristine, transparent quality to her loveliness, conveying her character's ordeal with heart-breaking dignity. Campbell Scott also makes a sensitive impression in a small but crucial part as one of her editor-husband's rising novelists.

And speaking of rising talents, 32-year-old writer-director Greg Mottola makes one of the most accomplished, original debuts since Steven Soderbergh stunned the movie world with "sex, lies, and videotape" -- an apt comparison, since Soderbergh is credited as one of the producers on "The Daytrippers."

This movie delivers more than its share of surprises and revelations, and even though none of these plot points seem especially earth-shattering, it's hard to imagine any film of 1997 presenting a richer, more captivating family of characters.

contributed by Marguerite

'The Daytrippers': A Day in Manhattan Is No Day at the Beach

by Janet Maslin

Eliza D'Amico (Hope Davis) lives on Long Island and thinks she is happily married to Louis (Stanley Tucci), who works in Manhattan. Then she finds a letter that was apparently written to her husband. It quotes Andrew Marvell and is signed "Love forever, Sandy." Even more surprising than where this situation leads "The Daytrippers" is the way Eliza decides to tackle it: with her whole family.

The Malones turn out to be the secret weapon of Greg Mottola's spirited, expertly acted first feature, which is set right after Thanksgiving and is most definitely not about a man secretly planning to show his wife a merry Christmas.

Eliza's family responds to her crisis so loyally they all pile into the station wagon and head for Manhattan. They mean to march into Louis' Park Avenue publishing office and help Eliza while she demands an explanation. "It's very easy to lie on the phone," insists Rita (Anne Meara), Eliza's sweet, overbearing mother, by way of explaining why the Malones must court severe culture shock by venturing into town.

Rita is the kind of woman who shouts, "I can't hear you!" while running the coffee grinder, or who says "We got a really good price on this cake" while offering breakfast to her daughter's boyfriend. The movie could easily find condescension in this, but it chooses to be generous and funny instead.

Mottola, who wrote and directed this film and shot it in 16 days with a vigor that shows on screen, knows his territory well. He appreciates the Malones both on their own turf and in the pretentious wilds of Manhattan, where they become innocents abroad.

Ms. Meara, who plays her role like an old pro, and Ms. Davis, who has the makings of a young one, are part of a cast that easily makes the film worth seeing.

There's a particularly wonderful performance from Liev Schreiber as Carl, the kind of young man who has opinions about the architecture that lines the Long Island Expressway. ("Let me tell you something, the Europeans may have been imperialists, but they knew how to make a building.")

Carl, who is writing a pricelessly bad novel about a man with the head of a dog (a German short-haired pointer, as in pointing, as in finding the way to salvation), is the boyfriend of Jo, Eliza's younger sister. Jo is played by Parker Posey, once again the apotheosis of blase cool. All three women in the Malone family will, without too much contrivance, experience profound changes of outlook before the day is over.

After cramming the Malones into their car for the drive to town (with Pat McNamara at the wheel as a long-suffering patriarch), "The Daytrippers" is ready to take Manhattan.

Mottola makes the most of Eliza's desperately naive look as she tries to navigate shark-infested waters at Louis' office. Among the principals there are a supercilious boss (played by Douglas McGrath, the director of "Emma") and a suave young novelist (Campbell Scott, also one of the film's executive producers) who manages to pursue both Eliza and Jo in the course of one very eventful day. With practiced seductiveness, he asks whether Eliza is an author. No? "Too bad," he says. "You'd look good on a book jacket."

As Mottola tackles the technical challenge of keeping this story busy and moving it energetically around town, he adds a couple of subsidiary interludes that are meant to amplify the main action but don't go truly anywhere.

(Unlike "Flirting With Disaster," another comic road movie about marital discord, this one isn't crazy enough to make its wild coincidences seem matter-of-fact.)

The film bogs down slightly at such times. Still, the main action of "The Daytrippers" is bright, real and even poignant enough to make this journey worth the ride.

OUR closest relatives may be weird, tacky and relentlessly annoying, but at times of crisis it's still comforting to count on their support.

"The Daytrippers" uncannily captures this sense of warmth and reassurance, while sketching the hilarious follies and foibles of each of its flawed, ultimately endearing family members.

contributed by Marguerite

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