The Film "The Accidental Tourist" was pretty terrible, but the novel wasn't much better.

The Accidental Tourist From its long-winded beginning to its dull and distorted end, The Accidental Tourist is an authentic recreation of Anne Tyler's novel. The only thing that scriptwriters Frank Galati and Lawrence Kasdan have offered the story is the out-of-fashion appearance of an era that was far from appealing. Though a few scenes have been removed entirely from the script, some of which seemed significant in the original text, most of the emotions contained …

…and themes prevalent in the original text, and is true to the plot all the way through. No additional ideas are established, and the characters are sometimes disturbingly similar to their authored pioneers; the originals were alarmingly eccentric, and the movie portrays them as so. Some of the scenes have been altered, perhaps in order to keep a low budget, but any imagery displaced by this is presented elsewhere in the very well reproduced script.