The Big Chill (15th Anniversary Collector's Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The Big Chill (15th Anniversary Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: Boom Boom...Boo Hoo
Summary: 5 Stars
Since this film first appeared about 20 years ago, it has become a favorite of those who comprise what is referred to as the "Baby Boomer" generation" but its appeal is by no means limited to that age group. So many of its themes (e.g. nostalgia, disenchantment, sexual frustration, egocentricity) are common to all generations. As is often the case, a reunion of friends occurs because of a death, in this case Alex whose corpse is being formally dressed for burial as the film begins. (It is Kevin Costner's body but his head is concealed, with the balance of Costner's appearance lying on a cutting room floor.) Sarah and Harold Cooper (Glenn Close and Kevin Kline) serve as unofficial hostess and host. After the burial, their friends return with them to their home where accommodations are provided. Their extended celebration of both Alex and themselves begins, during which Kasdan (who also wrote the screenplay) carefully reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each central character. The Coopers seem to be the strongest, happily married and prosperous but also generous and caring. Nick (William Hurt) is a confused and self-absorbed veteran (in some respects a survivor) of the Viet Nam war. The group includes one celebrity, Sam (Tom Berenger) who stars in a television series. Karen has always been in love with Sam. Now a somewhat unhappily married woman, she struggles with her conflict of emotions (obligations to husband and children juxtaposed with her enduring attraction to Sam). Mary Kay Place is a successful attorney who yearns for parenthood but not necessarily marriage. For me, the most interesting character is Michael (Jeff Goldblum) who comes across as a smarmy, almost desperate social misfit. Although claiming to be secure as a journalist with People magazine, he is obviously desperate to be accepted, to make favorable impressions, and if nothing else, taken seriously. His vulnerabilities are almost palpable.Kasdan and his associates have created in this film an especially effective portrayal of certain values during the period in which the action (such as it is) occurs. For example, most of the characters are almost wholly preoccupied with what they want but do not have. There is a strong element of codependency among them as they struggle to absorb and digest the reality of Alex's death. They are mutually devoted but, at the same time, several seem (to me) to be asking the same question once posed by Peggy Lee: "Is this all there is?"
Much of the appeal of this film is explained by how seamlessly Kasdan coordinates the plot with the soundtrack which continues to be a bestseller. For example, it is an especially appropriate touch that he includes the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" early on during the funeral service for Alex. Other selections on the soundtrack include "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Marvin Gaye), "My Girl" (The Tempations), "Good Lovin'" (Rascals), "The Tracks Of My Tears" (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles), "Joy To The World" (Three Dog Night), "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" (Temptations), "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin), "I Second That Emotion" (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles), "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" (Procol Harum), and "Tell Him" (Exciters).
Movie Review: Grief Counselling
Summary: 5 Stars
As a 1971 graduate of a student movement campus, I feel for the characters in this movie. The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor was one such campus, and all the characters in this movie are alumni from there.
In 1969 they thought their parents and authority figures were wrong about everything. They thought formal clothing was wrong. They thought Time Life publications were full of baloney.
Now, in 1983, these Ann Arbor alumni dress formally, especially if they're going to a funeral. And one of the gang writes for People Weekly, the Time Life publication.
I'm a writer myself. I do my best to revive late 60's New Left political arguments on my web site:
www.realhistoryarchives.com
The ex - flower children in "The Big Chill" ponder their transformation into the people they used to hate, the people they once accused of killing the Kennedys.
Not only that, they also hear their biological clocks ticking. They try playing touch football only to wince at the injuries they likely will sustain from a single game. The character played by Mary Kay Place realizes she soon will become unable to bear children. The character of Alex, though never seen, haunts a group of his friends throughout the film. He has chosen to follow the advice of Pete Townshend and die before he gets old.
Group members revisit their erstwhile promises to help every single African American and Latino kid in the slums. Mary Kay Place's character broaches this subject. She is an attorney working in real estate law in the Atlanta area. When we first meet her we see her luxurious office with a beautiful view out the window.
She explains to the group that she switched to this lucrative field after becoming frustrated as a public defender in the juvenile court system of Philadelphia. She became frustrated there after realizing that the kids wanted to commit crimes instead of receive charity. They chose to hurt people. So it was time for her to do what she wanted to do.
If you haven't seen this movie, you should see it. You can't change the world as a few college students in 1969 wanted to do, but you can cry with those people as they grieve the shattering of their hope. The only possible sequel to this movie would take place in the year 2020 as the characters join the Grey Panthers. At that point they'll have to fight just to survive. Forget the Peace Corps. Their own survival (meals, medical care, etc.) will become paramount.
Movie Review: Friendship rocks!
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw "The Big Chill" on video back in my Uni days. I was dragged reluctantly to the TV by three lady friends as part of a video night. What I had thought was going to be a "Girl's" movie turned out to be one of my all time favorites. I loved the story but the musical score is also terrific. It has a selection of some of the best tunes from the 60's throughout the film and they are interlaced with the film not just used as background. I have seen some cynical reviews of "The Big Chill" which try to prove it is deliberately schmaltzy. I don't have a lot of faith in film critics at the best of times and least of all on this occasion. Watching this film is a touching experience. You become so wrapped up in the characters that you never want it to end. Oh and I feel before I get into a description of the story that you should all know that Alex, the dead guy, was played by Kevin Costner, before he became famous. His part was then largely edited out of the film, to the point where his face is never seen.
The film starts at Alex's funeral. We are introduced to Alex's friends from his college days. Then we move on to the wake, held at the beautiful home of Sarah and Harold. It is a bucolic palace by the edge of the Beaufort River. One of the first things that we learn is that Alex committed suicide. To make matters more interesting, he did it in Harold and Sarah's bath tub and was survived by a ditzy girlfriend, Chloe, played by Meg Tilly.
As the movie progresses we learn more about each of the group. Michael came primarily to get investors for his new venture. Meg, played by Mary Kay Place, wants a baby and she wants to conceive over this weekend. Sam has always had the hots for Karen, played by JoBeth Williams, and she in turn is tired of her marriage of convenience. Nick is a part time drug dealer who is trying to deal with the loss of his balls in Vietnam. Sarah had an affair with the dead Alex some years earlier. The only one who seems to have no skeletons in the closet is Harold, who has become "mister responsible" but without losing his caring side.
So as you can see, there is plenty to work with here. In the end, "The Big Chill", will make you laugh and it will make you cry but mostly it will make you want to catch up with the old friends in you life.
Movie Review: A film for Baby Boomers -- lots of fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, there's a funeral, which is the basis for the background story for this film -- but the dead guy would have been fine with his associates' activities over this "going back" weekend.
The story is essentially this: A gregarious assemblage of Baby Boomers (now mostly successful and semi-rich) come together for a weekend reunion when a friend, (drug-crazed, who never left the 60s), dies. The post-funeral activities range from philosophical meanderings to reefer smoking to carnal intercourse. The corpse's young girlfriend stays on throughout the weekend for additional comic relief.
I could watch this one over and over, (and I do). They say that, "You can never go back," but this film returns one to the 60s for just a little re-peek. Here are the great things about this movie, at least for Baby Boomers:
1. The music. This film features one of the great 60s soundtracks of all time:
The Big Chill - Deluxe Edition
The Big Chill: More Songs from the Original Soundtrack
2. The story -- the interactions of these characters absolutely reminded me of the humorous hipocracy of my pals and myself as well.
3. The cinematography of this film is second to none. The locations and sets are also superb.
4. The casting in this film is so perfect I can't think of one change that I would have made.
I don't know that this movie would mean a lot (or have any meaning whatever) for younger generations of people -- you sort of had to be there. It's a comedy film in a sense, (falling into a category of films which I would normally avoid), but this is a MUST SEE for any Baby Boomer who participated in the nefarious, free-love-society of the '60s.
Highly recommended to appropriate viewers.
Movie Review: Heatng up THE BIG CHILL
Summary: 5 Stars
THE BIG CHILL is a recurring reunion: with every viewing it brings back memories of where we all have been in a period of time that seems so distant yet so important. The film written (with Barbara Benedek) and directed by Lawrence Kasdan has reached icon status: it is as quality a memoir of baby boomer post college life that remains as poignant today as when it was released twenty seven years ago.
Brought together for the funeral of suicide victim Alex, eight friends gather for a weekend of remembering and reliving the times when they were all students - Alex being the most promising of them all - and wondering what drove their little hero to kill himself. Each of the friends, through self produced play with a video camera. Through intimate conversations, and through the psychology of group 'therapy' explains where they are now in comparison to where they thought they would be. The only member of the group who is 'new' is Chloe (Meg Tilly) who had been Alex's girlfriend. The group - Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, and Jobeth Williams interact philosophically, over food making in the kitchen of the Close/Kline home, share frustrations and fulfill expectations in both friendship and physical interactions. Surrounding this film is a selection of popular songs from their time that extend into the memories of the viewers. It is a funny film. a tender film, a tour de force of acting by some very fine actors, and a memory trip that is wroth repeating with some frequency, like opening the old photo album. It has staying power. Grady Harp, November 10