The Big Chill

From AwardAnnals

Reviews

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Lawrence Kasdan’s 1983 big-budget variation on John Sayles’s The Return of the Secaucus Seven finds a cluster of old college radicals—who have since gone on to sundry professions and various degrees of materialism—reuniting over the death of a friend. Both playful and thoughtful, the film represents Kasdan (Body Heat) at his most astute. The attractive cast meshes perfectly into a group of characters for which a former closeness is out of synch with their current lives, yet their warmth is enviable and inviting. The script may be a bit too glib, with many one-liners, but it is still a perfectly designed story with telling irony and no little passion. —Tom Keogh

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This seminal film about the reunion of thirtysomething friends works even better than when first released in 1983. The fine performances of the ensemble cast and a rockin’ soundtrack always made this eminently enjoyable. However, the characters’ often pompous blather occasionally stalled the action. Baby Boomer introspection has become so common that such navel gazing seems less problematic than it did in the early 1980s.

Seven former classmates from the University of Michigan gather for the funeral of Alex, their idealistic and suicidal friend. They use their time together to become reacquainted, all the while discussing lost dreams and current hopes. (This should appeal to anyone who enjoyed that other famous reunion flick of the 1980s, John Sayles’ Return of the Secaucus Seven.)

Director-cowriter Lawrence Kasdan culled finely textured performances from his cast and filled the screen with memorable details. He may manipulate us with his writing but the actors do an impressive job of pulling at our heartstrings while Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye play in the background. —Rochelle O’Gorman