The Discoverers
Film poster
Directed by	Justin Schwarz
Written by	Justin Schwarz
Produced by	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
Edited by	Geraud Brisson
Music by	Aaron Mirman
Production company	Quadratic Media
Distributed by	Quadratic Media
Release dates	October 6, 2012 (2012-10-06) (Hamptons) May 16, 2014 (2014-05-16)
Running time	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.

Plot

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]

Cast

• Griffin Dunne as Lewis Birch
• Madeleine Martin as Zoe
• Cara Buono as Nell
• John C. McGinley as Bill Birch
• Stuart Margolin as Stanley Birch
• Devon Graye as Jack
• Ann Dowd as Patti
• Dreama Walker as Abigail Marshall

Reception

The film was a New York Times Critic's Pick.^[2] As of June 2020^[update], 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]