The Daytrippers (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

With its droll humor and bittersweet emotional heft, the feature debut of writer-director Greg Mottola announced the arrival of an unassumingly sharp-witted new talent on the 1990s indie scene. When she discovers a love letter written to her husband (Stanley Tucci) by an unknown paramour, the distraught Eliza (Hope Davis) turns to her tight-knit Long Island family for advice. Soon the entire clan—strong-willed mom (Anne Meara), taciturn dad (Pat McNamara), and jaded sister (Parker Posey) with pretentious boyfriend (Liev Schreiber) in tow—has squeezed into a station wagon and headed into Manhattan to find out the truth, kicking off a one-crazy-day odyssey full of unexpected detours and life-changing revelations. Performed with deadpan virtuosity by a top-flight ensemble cast, The Daytrippers is a wry and piercing look at family bonds stretched to the breaking point. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Greg Mottola, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack • New audio commentary featuring Mottola, editor Anne McCabe, and producer Steven Soderbergh • New interviews with Mottola and cast members Hope Davis, Parker Posey, Liev Schreiber, and Campbell Scott • The Hatbox, a 1985 short film by Mottola, with audio commentary by the director • PLUS: An essay by critic Emily Nussbaum