Genres

Visitors Review

Ryan J. Gilmer 2012-05-25 04:59:29

Enjoyable & Kevin Costner & good music

To me at least "The Big Chill" really does not stand out" in terms of beinga great movie, but it is still one that I could recommend.If you are looking for an enjoyable movie then "The Big Chill" is a moviefor you. The movie has the fealing of nostalga in that it is an 80's film, but it isnot a cheesy film. In fact it is a good movie from the decade (a decade thatis widely forgotten in movie goers minds).The solid acting from a bunch of now well-known stars actually saves themovie because the story is sometimes either very thin or sometimes difficultto fully follow.Of course this may be that at times I was slightly distracted, but still agreat movie would grab your attention.A couple of interesting things about this movie are the scenes with KevinCostner (if only there were more or if only there was a DVD with the deletedscenes or at least commentary by Costner saying like "and here is where Iwas cut as of the cast rest reflect" on his character'slife).Instead though Costner does not even get a credit as you only see his bodyat the very beginning.Music buffs will possible enjoy the movie the most as it does have a goodsoundtrack with rather unique uses of music (think Grateful Dead playedduring a funeral and you good possibly guess some of the interestinguses)Viewed on tape in 2001. Rating a 7

2012-05-24 16:08:54

so good

i loved this movie. i had heard alot about this movie from my mother who loves it so one day last summer i decided to watch it. i loved it too. great soundtrack including alot of 60s and 70s music. great acting particuarally glenn close. great story. just a perfect movie.

2012-05-20 08:50:39

Extra features were a disappointment

This review is from: The Big Chill (15th Anniversary Collector's Edition) (DVD) Any fan of The Big Chill would have expectations for finally seeing the "Alex Alive" scenes. When I heard that an anniversary edition was being released with extensive interviews and deleted scenes, I hoped, even assumed, that the rumored and much-discussed college Thanksgiving scenes with Kevin Costner as "Alex Alive" would finally be shown to all Big Chill fans who have longed to see that footage. When Lawrence Kasdan talked at length about those scenes in his interview, I felt sure that they would be included in the section of deleted scenes. It was a terrific let-down to wait through some fairly blah, and understandably deleted scenes, only to discover that the college Thanksgiving scenes were never included.Even though I enjoyed seeing the movie re-mastered with excellent sound, and I enjoyed the script and acting as much as ever, I felt that any real fan of the movie would be terribly disappointed that the missing piece was still, after all these years, held back. The movie fascinated me because it is my generation; I lived it and I wanted to see what these actors and that director did with the college scenes. I wanted to see Alex. I wanted to see how they made the living, breathing Alex fit into this group. It was a big disappointment. I know that Lawrence Kasdan felt that when it was all said and done he thought he had told the story effectively without the need of the retrospective, but I still wanted to see whether I thought that was true or not.

brocksilvey 2012-05-19 19:07:55

The Midlife Crises of Ordinary People

Nothing is more boring to me than any movie or book about someoneelse's midlife crisis, and "The Big Chill" is about nothing but a bunchof privileged baby boomers in the middle of them.The big cast features all sorts of actors who would go on to become bigstars of the 1980s and beyond: Glenn Close, William Hurt, Kevin Kline,Tom Berenger, Jeff Goldblum. There's no denying the chemistry betweenthese fine actors, but the whole movie feels whiny and self-indulgent.I sense that it may be one of those films that you have to be the rightage to appreciate. After all, I was all of eight years old when it cameout, and saw it while I was still in college. Actually, it was aimedsquarely at people who in 1983 were about the age I am now, so maybe Ishould revisit it.Grade: C

2012-05-15 03:44:10

2.5 stars out of 4

The Bottom Line:The fact that The Big Chill takes itself seriously doesn't mean you should: this is a slow-moving drama about college buddies reuniting after one of them dies which features the requisite drama and tears but never manages to be terribly interesting.

2012-05-14 17:34:15

audio problems

This DVD version of The Big Chill, has the same problems that I find on most of my discs and that is POOR audio. This is especially true with a DVD Movie that uses Music as a large part of the experience, such as The Big Chill. When the background music comes up, I have to turn DOWN my volume because it becomes so Loud and when the Music stops, I have to turn UP my volume in order to hear the actors and what they are saying. This is a good movie with the same old problem that the Studios have not corrected on most of the older DVD's. I have even experienced this with some of the newer ones. I would think this is correctable, if a little time and money were spent on it.

silverzero 2012-05-08 13:21:45

Nostalgic, elegantly handled and brilliantly done feel-good drama.

"The Big Chill" is often regarded as the best Hollywood movie to demonstrateensemble acting. A problem that can affect similar films is the unequaldivision of time that each character receives, but "The Big Chill" avoidsthis problem. It certainly is a moving cinematic experience that isn'teasily forgotten. OK it doesn't really lead anywhere, but as it goes on, thenostalgic charm sets in and the core isn't hollow. Terrific performances from the ensemble cast who work well as a group. It'sironic how Kevin Costner had the most successful career yet if you blinkyou'll miss him. Some of the careers of the talented cast bloomed afterthis- Kevin Kline won an Oscar for "A Fish Called Wanda", Glenn Close got 5nominations (this film included) and got a status in Hollywood, JeffGoldblum got success in the likes of "Jurassic Park" and "Independence Day".Others didn't- Meg Tilly sort of disappeared, JoBeth Williams went on toflops such as Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot, Mary Kay Place had small parts inGirl Interupted and Being John Malkovich but went by un-noticed."The Big Chill" is a complex and often brilliant story of the need forcompanionship. The soundtrack greatly adds to the nostalgic and upliftingfeel to the movie. Great performances, splendid direction and an engagingscript make this a deserved (if not slightly dated) classic. My IMDb rating:8.0/10.

maddos1 2012-05-08 00:02:28

Probably, the movie I can most relate to.

When I went to the theater to see this movie in 1983, I was impressed withhow much of my personal experience I could see in it. I was the same ageasthe characters and actors and had friends going through many of the same"identity crises". I have lost friends to Viet Nam, drugs and just todrifting apart. Would love to see them all again.

2012-05-05 04:47:05

Ok, let's adress some complaints . . .

First of all, if you think the film is too "WHINY" then PLEASE GET OVER YOURSELF!!! I love how people who complain about others "whining" always do it in such a whiny fashion: "Oh, i just had to leave the theater, it was SUCH torture". If youre too self-absorbed and smug to gain insight or inspiration from hearing about other people's sincere doubts and dissatisfactions then you're just plain shallow and crass as a person. Go watch some reruns of "Freinds" and keep pretending this bears some relation to real life. Second, the "their grief wasn't convincing" complaint comes up again and again. I can understand this take on it, but consider this: Everyone grieves in their own way; when i was but a mere twenty-one years old, one of my closest freinds died suddenly and unexpectedly. I cried at his funeral, but within a few hours of the service i was at a restaurant drinking and having a good time with all our other mutual pals - that night we stayed up getting drunk and high on the roof of an apartment building as much in celebration of our dear comrade's life as in grief over his and our loss. I talked to a buddy that night saying, "It just hasn't sunken in yet", and it hadn't. And it never did hit me the way i thought it would, at least partly because people don't always mourn the same way they so often do in movies. I loved my freind like a brother, but i only ever wept for him once, very breifly, at the funeral service - after that I was as normal as ever, even while discussing him posthumously with other freinds. I find this movie to be quite realistic and endearing - even profound in certain moments. I am of a much younger generation than the one portrayed, but their conversations (whininess, self-pity, intellectual conceit and ALL) still resonate with me and my veiw of the world. If that makes me a whiny gen X archetype then so be it - but i'm still smart enough to take any of your bogus "self-absorbed slacker" accusations throw them right back in your face to reveal you as the vapid, unreflective, self-righteous, self congratulatory, and plain-old SELFISH jerk you are . . . plus, i can probably kick your ass. This is a great film with some amazing, career-defining performances by some equally great actors - especially Goldblum. I highly recomend this to anyone else who has ever had the presence of mind to doubt yourself, what youve become, or your station in the world. If youre willfully ignorant enough to feel totally secure in all those areas already, then by all means, write a book and share your secret with the rest of us - otherwise shut the hell up. Yeah, i suppose my life story isn't all that helpfull, but it was meant to illustrate a point (that people mourn in many different ways, and that doesn't make them shallow)which i was making in response to one of the more frequent criticisms of the film found on these pages. As for the rest - i stand by it: you can dislike this film for any number of reasons, but simply labelling these characters as whiny and shallow is narrow-minded, ignorant, and indicative of some serious flaws in your approach to other people. Keep those unhelpful votes coming!!!"deadheads in caddillacs" - yeah, i could just as easily pin all the social ills that one reviewer above so absurdly blames on the cliched mythical stereotype of the "baby boomer generation" (as if any such thing actually ever existed outside of Time magazine cover articles) on the bogus liberal pieties of Don Henley listeners (grow some friggin ears, for god's sake!) - but that would be just as arbitrary, and equally disingenuous. Again: GET OVER YOURSELVES!

2012-05-04 16:34:56

An amazing movie experience

Anyone who has graduated college should see this. It has a great story with good acting and lots of entertainment, but the movie is filled with importance. Everyone changes phases of there life, and the college experience is one of the best. It is when we grow and mature, and of course have fun. No matter how much we want to never change and never lose those friends time and often distance take that away. BUT, somethings never change. This movie captures this in an inspiring way that will entertain more and more everytime you watch it.

hagai.gurevitz 2012-05-04 12:02:52

and all this in the middle of the RAIGEN administration.

there is no argument, the RAIGEN administration was one of the worst in theus history (along with GRANT and IZANHAWER). and what a surprise, just thencome one of the most hart warming and nostalgic of them all. a group ofmiddle age men and women, all survivors of the crazy 60's come together forthe friend (ALEX) funeral. for a few days this group experience the 60'sallover again, a wonderful cast, wonderful director and a greatmovie.

Jackie Mann 2012-05-03 19:13:16

Excellent!

This is one of my favourite films. It deals with all sorts of things,friendship, love, death.I like the subtle comedy, very cleverly done. It makes you think aboutyouridealism you have as a youth, and how that get replaced with reality andsynicism that comes with getting older. The soundtrack is amazing too,some wonderful sixties classics!In all, one of those feel-good movies to watch when you're feeling low,andI don't think its boring at all, one of those I could watch over and overagain.I rate it 10/10

Jackson Booth-Millard 2012-05-03 09:05:18

The Big Chill

From director Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat, Wyatt Earp) this drama aboutfriends reunited is pretty good. Basically a group of old collegefriends, now grown up, come together for the funeral of Alex (KevinCostner, who had all his scenes cut) who was at one time the brightestand best of all of them, but didn't achieve as much as the others.These friends: Harold Cooper (Kevin Kline), his wife Sarah (Oscarnominated Glenn Close), Nick Carlton (William Hurt), Michael Gold (JeffGoldblum), Sam Weber (Platoon's Tom Berenger), Meg Jones (Mary KayPlace) and Chloe (Meg Tilly, Jennifer's sister) after the funeral tryto reacquaint themselves. JoBeth Williams as Karen Bowens and DonGalloway as Richard Bowens. Besides the obvious funeral, the scenesthat stick for me are the dancing around the table, and because thereis no original music, some great songs have been put in, such as ArethaFranklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", The Beach Boys'"Wouldn't It Be Nice", The Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" (whichwas number 94 on 100 Years, 100 Songs) and Marvin Gaye's "I Heard ItThrough The Grapevine". It was nominated the Oscars for Best Pictureand Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, it wasnominated the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay, and it was nominatedthe Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical and BestScreenplay. Very good!

mlevans 2012-05-02 14:09:41

Textbook Movie-making + Great Cast = Classic

I had never thought much about how movies are made, what makes greatmovies,etc., until I took Intro to Cinema in college. Among the requirements oftheclass was writing a full-fledged movie review (read that as `term paper')ona film of our choice – but one approved by the professor. I wound upreviewing The Big Chill, which was only about a year old at thetime.A new student of cinema could hardly pick a better picture to study.Lawrence Kasdan puts on a film-making clinic in The Big Chill. What filmbetter shows would-be film-makers the art of transition between scenes –such as moving from the church organ's rendition of `You Can't Always GetWhat You Want' during the funeral, to the Stones' classic version, using itto bridge the funeral sequences with the reception at the Coopers' home –and hence, with the rest of the movie. The roaring to life of the varied(mainly expensive) cars in the church parking lot also points out theaffluence these former radicals possess. Kasdan mixes his incrediblesoundtrack masterfully with the action throughout the film. The camera'sattention to the listener rather than the speaker in a conversation is alsoimportant. Kasdan's lens is always there to capture the surprise, hurt,anger or other emotions generated by another's unexpected remarks. Althoughthis is early in his career, Kasdan clearly shows that he already has amaster's grasp of his art.When I first saw it, of course, I was IN college. I viewed it a handful oftimes over the years, but had not seen it for half a dozen years or so,whenI watched it a year or two ago. These old friends were getting together 14or 15 years after graduation. While I had enjoyed the movie as acollege-ageviewer, I was amazed at the new wallop the film delivered, as I watched it14 or 15 years after I had left college! There was an emotional impact Ihadnever experienced in earlier viewings. Like these friends, I had assured myfraternity brothers and their girlfriends that we would always be close.Fifteen years later, I had seen ONE of my brothers a total of about threetimes. I sadly had to admit that it would probably take the funeral of oneof US to bring our group back together.That said, the movie has some interesting twists and is somewhat unique forits LACK of action. I winced during one early post-college viewing, with afriend who had never seen it. After about 10 minutes, he moaned `Don't TELLme the whole film is going to be them sitting around a house all weekend,reminiscing!' I began whistling, looked the other way & pretended not tohear. Fortunately (unlike a recent poster), my friend was won over by themovie before it was over. The film has some wonderful moments and a fewbizarre ones.SPOILERS AHEAD!!!One scene I still have mixed emotions about is the bizarre husband-sharingbetween Sarah Cooper (Glen Close) and Meg (Mary Kay Place). Depicting thisas the ultimate act of friendship between two near-sisters and (I suppose)the ultimate act of trust between a husband and wife still seems a bittroubling to me. Still, it works, as do most of the plot twists. Perhapstheromance between the emasculated Nick (William Hurt) and Cloe (Meg Tilly)came on too fast, as some have suggested. I have always wanted to see adirector's cut with Kevin Costner's cut-out role (I assume, all inflashbacks) as the dead Alex; I wonder if the cut footage might have madeNick's transition a little more readily acceptable.The film is one of dialogue and Kasdan and Barbara Benedek keep it snappyand believable. It is also quite witty. I saw Jeff Goldblum for the firsttime in this film and have been a big fan ever since. Some of his lines areclassic, including the definition of the length of the average magazinearticle (which I won't give away here) and of nature being `one great bigoutdoor toilet.' Other lines are quite telling, like young Cloe's innocentremark (filmed by Nick), `I don't like to talk about my past as much as youpeople do,' and Karen's outsider husband Richard's crack `I can't believethese are the same people you've been telling me about, all theseyears!'I could go on and on – heck, I HAVE gone on and on, but, in short, this isamasterfully done film. It doesn't have techno-crap galore; it doesn't haveawesome backdrops (although the scenes in the edge of the woods are quiteattractive); it has no blood, no visible sex, no explosions or dreamsequences. What it has are real people, played marvelously by a talentedcast, directed by a master, and featuring wonderful music. It stillprovideswonderful entertainment. The Big Chill remains one of my all-timefavorites.

2012-04-26 15:08:51

A great movie about the intricacies of friendships

A movie that I come back to time and again. It probes into how friends interact and cope over the sudden loss of a dear friend. There is intelligent dialogue and humor mixed in with seriousness about death and disillusionment over dreams not carried to fruition. A thought provoking movie that truly touches the heart and mind.

James Hitchcock 2012-04-26 05:43:48

Hippies Turned Yuppies

When I was a student at Cambridge in the early eighties, shortly before"The Big Chill" came out, a friend of mine had a poster on his wallentitled "Woodstock Tenth Anniversary Reunion". (The actual anniversaryhad taken place in August 1979, not long before we went up). The jokewas that those attending the reunion were all middle-class professionaltypes, smartly dressed in lounge suits with well-trimmed short hair.This poster exemplified the way in which my generation saw the babyboomers, twentysomething hippies turned thirtysomething yuppies. Thosewho still retained their hippie idealism were mercilessly derided asbeing at least ten years behind the times. (And derided not only byCambridge students but also by the likes of B. A. Robertson, in hissatirical song "Kool in the Kaftan"). "The Big Chill" takes a rather more charitable look at the problemsfacing those idealists from the 1960s who tried to retain theiridealism during the conservative Reagan years of the early 1980s. Itfeatures a group of old college friends from the University of Michiganwho are reunited after fifteen years. The event which reunites them isthe death of Alex, one of the group, who committed suicide whilestaying at the home of his friends Harold and Sarah. An impromptureunion occurs as the old friends gather for Alex's funeral. The precise reasons why Alex killed himself are not spelled out- he didnot leave a suicide note- but as the movie progresses we realise thathe had become disillusioned with the course his life had taken. (He wasa brilliant scientist, but had dropped out of the academic life tobecome a social worker). His friends also come to realise this, and therealisation prompts them to consider the paths their own lives havetaken. Most of the group were involved in the counterculture of the1960s and the peace movement or other forms of radical politics, butmost are now living much more conservative, middle-class lifestyles.Harold is a business executive and his wife Sarah a doctor; they livein an elegant antebellum home in the South. Sam, a one-time radical,has now become a Hollywood actor closely based upon Tom Selleck, downto the moustache. (While watching the film I assumed that Selleckhimself was playing the part; it was only when I saw the cast-list thatI realised it was actually Tom Berenger). Karen is also now living anaffluent lifestyle but is feeling dissatisfied with her husband Richard(who was not one of the college group). Michael, once a radicaljournalist, now works for the apolitical, celebrity-obsessed "PeopleMagazine". Nick, a Vietnam War veteran, has now become a drug dealer.Apart from their friend's suicide, the question which haunts the groupis what became of their youthful idealism? Contrary to what one might have expected, the film does not take astraightforward "radicalism good, conservatism bad" line. A key scenecomes when Nick nearly gets himself arrested by badmouthing the localpoliceman. Harold, a personal friend of the officer, manages to smooththings out, but then berates Nick for his rudeness and stupidity. ToNick, who still subscribes to the sixties idea that all cops are "pigs", this may seem like a sellout to the enemy, but I suspect that most ofthe audience will side with Harold who realises that some of hiscontemporaries have difficulty in distinguishing between idealism andchildishness. "The Big Chill" has something in common with another movie from theearly eighties, Barry Levinson's "Diner" from 1981, which also dealswith a reunion of a group of former classmates, although that film is aperiod piece set in 1959 and the characters are rather younger, beingin their twenties rather than their thirties. What the two films havein common is that both are excellent examples of ensemble acting.This was the second film of its director Lawrence Kasdan (his first wasthe very different neo-noir thriller "Body Heat") and it starred anumber of actors, such as William Hurt and Kevin Kline, who were tobecome regulars in Kasdan's movies. , (Kevin Costner, originally castas Alex, was edited out of the final version, but also went on tobecome a Kasdan regular). There are too may good performances to listthem all, but special mentions must go to Kline as Harold, Glenn Closeas Sarah and Meg Tilly as Alex's strange, unworldly younger girlfriendChloe. One question much discussed on this board is whether the film is"dated". Leaving aside trivial questions of fashion (even in theeighties Tom Berenger's hairstyle must have looked very seventies), Ithink that it is "dated", but only in the narrow, limited sense that itdeals with cultural phenomena such as the sixties counterculture whichwere very much of their own era. In a wider sense it is not datedbecause it deals with timeless issues such as love, friendship and thechallenge of staying true to one's youthful ideals in later life.(Another eighties film on this theme, although in my view a lesssuccessful one, is Fred Schepisi's "Plenty"). I felt that the film was occasionally slow-moving, with too great anemphasis on talk over action. I also wondered whether it might not havebeen improved by keeping Costner's scenes to allow us to see what sortof a person Alex was and why his death had such a traumatic impact onhis friends. Overall, however, I felt that it was a very watchablefilm, and often a moving one- one that could be watched for pleasurenot only by those who are too young to remember the sixties but eventhose who are too young to remember the eighties. 7/10

2012-04-25 07:23:14

A strong ensemble cast

Everyone in the cast does a good job in this film, particularly Kevin Kline and Glenn Close as the couple who host a group of old friends for several nights after the death of another friend. I had seen it years ago, then just again today and, though one might hear some whining now and then, it's not irritating.The only thing I find intrusive on occasion is the soundtrack, which has great songs but tends to interrupt the narrative instead of to advance it.

2012-04-24 14:00:52

A wonderfully effecting film about the true meaning of friendship...

Friends; the real ones only come around once in a lifetime. Sure, the general embodiment of the term `friend' comes in and out of our lives with reckless abandonment and makes their little dents in who we are, but true friends never leave us and are irreplaceable. You'll know it when you meet that someone, or those someones. You'll know it immediately because there is a close comfort that comes very rarely; a feeling of overwhelming ease that allows you to be yourself, more yourself then maybe you've ever been and thus it is those real friends that help you realize who it is that you really are.I'm lucky to have such a friend, and no doubt you have that person (or persons) as well.`The Big Chill' is a story about that kind of friendship, a friendship that survives all and continues to shape and mold us. It's a story about realizing that we are nothing without that friendship, and that all that we have attempted to become becomes null and void without that friendship.The film begins under very somber pretences, with the passing of a dear friend; Alex. Alex, who took his own life, left a tight-knit group of friends to ponder why it was that he left them. Over the weekend these eight people lock themselves away in a house and rediscover themselves. There is Sarah and Harold Cooper, the happily married couple (who own the house in which they are all staying); there is Sam Weber, the ashamed television actor; there is Michael Gold, the obnoxious journalist; there is Meg Jones, desperate for a child; there is Nick Carlton, out of touch with himself and those around him; there is Karen Bowens, the unhappily married mother and there is Chloe, Alex's girlfriend, stranger to the group.They all fight, they all break down, they all overreact and possibly underreact and basically all deal with the sudden situation as humans do; naturally and passionately.What makes `The Big Chill' so wonderful is that it feels so real, so raw and intelligent. Each character is wonderfully fleshed out to reveal their honest and true emotions and the metamorphosis they make over the short weekend seems legit and understandable. Sometimes being away from the ones who complete you for so long can make you become a variation of yourself that you are not comfortable with. When you are reunited with those persons it doesn't take long to realize what has been missing and what needs to change.The script is magnificent, but it is the acting that elevates every scene. Standouts are definitely William Hurt, Glenn Close and Kevin Kline; all three of which turning in some of their finest work. This was a breakout film for a lot of these actors, proving to be a jump off point in their careers. Hurt went on to do `Kiss of the Spider Woman' shortly after (winning an Oscar); Kline went on to do `A Fish Called Wanda' (winning the Oscar). Close had a string of Oscar nominations in the late 80's (she was also nominated for this). Meg Tilly received an Oscar nomination for her work in 85's `Agnes of God'; Berenger went on to be nominated for his stunning work in `Platoon'. The entire cast used this as a solid foundation for their careers, and some of them (namely Close and Hurt) are still working solidly today.Couple the acting and the script with the impressive musical accompaniments and you have a film that feels complete and warming and understanding and moving. It is a complete package, from start to finish, with never a dull moment and barely a thing to fault it over (I am not a Goldblum fan, and he annoyed me here, but there is always that one friend you can't stand so it fits well).

2012-04-21 19:12:40

Heatng up THE BIG CHILL

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

lancekoz 2012-04-21 04:18:02

Not perfect, but still excellent

Cable played "The Big Chill" Saturday, and I have to say it is stillexcellent. It's not perfect...but tries and attains enough in itssuccesses to more than make up for uneven acting and some clumsy,too-sweet moments in the script.And although the concerns of the people seem somewhat thirty-ish andneed to be considered in the time-period of the eighties, theconversations about friendship, morality and life-choices are stillimportant and deftly worked into the storyline. It was a hit driven bygood writing about somewhat believable humans, which is much lesscommon in mainstream movies nowadays, especially ones with such a bigname cast.And that fun, fun music doesn't hurt either.I agree that it may have been copied from "Return of the SeacaucusSeven" (which is fine in its own way), but see Chill anyway. There aremany, many clever bits in the written and shooting script that makegreat creative use of the medium of film.