Customer Reviews

The Big Chill

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

It's been twelve years since the halcyon days of college, and eight old friends are reunited for a classmate's funeral. Glenn Close and Kevin Kline play a married couple who open their home to the gang for a weekend of reminiscences of the good old days and moans about how their lives have turned out. William Hurt plays a disillusioned and disabled ex-soldier, Jeff Goldblum is a sarcastic writer, Tom Berenger is an actor who's seen better days, JoBeth Williams is married but looking for love, Mary Kay Place is single and looking for a baby daddy, and Meg Tilly is the deceased's young girlfriend.

There is no real action or plot; the film is made up of scattered, quiet conversations that reveal the characters' emotions. The early 70s rock soundtrack is such a big part of the movie, it's almost another character. If you loved songs like, "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" and "A Whiter Shade of Pale," you will love the non-stop music. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with any of the characters or find them particularly interesting; to me they were spoiled, self-centered whiners with precious little to complain about, and yet they spent two hours doing it anyway. If you fit the Gen-X demographic and like the music, you'll probably enjoy this low-key movie about a reunion of old friends.

Plenty of star power. One of those movies that, through almost no fault of it's own, features several rising actors who all went on to make it big one way or the other. Very 80's baby boomer 30 somethingish. Celluoid soap opera. Oddly, The Big Chill was a remake of a terrible low budget movie. Go figure.

One of my all time favourites.
I'm assuming you know what the film is about. The cast is first rate, Tom Berenger and William Hurt particular highlights and the throwback to 1960's nostalgia is irresistable.
One complaint on the DVD though! Why not release those scenes depicting the characters way back when and finally getting to see Costner? According to Kasdan himself, that would be damaging because his character, Alex, should remain faceless so the audience can imagine him anyway they want. Guess what, we all know it's Costner who played him so we already are imagining him as Alex everytime he is mentioned.

I originally saw this movie when it first came out back in the early 80's. Its been a long time and in the interim I had forgotten many of the finer qualities, nuances and excellent performances that make this movie such a great one.

It goes beyond seeing the delectable Kevin Kline so young and
jogging around in the then sylish short shorts.

It is watching the subtle expressions on the face of William Hurt (excellent acting) and the icy-ness (in different ways) of JoBeth Williams which got even colder as the film wore on and the coldness to warmth in Glen Close. Jeff Goldblum is deliciously slimy and Mary Kay Place wore the same hair style and many of the same outfits that I wore back then.

Despite the trip down memory lane, the main story remains intact
whether this was filmed yesterday and today. Why do some people
lose their hope and choose to turn away from life... and why do
others remain?

Why do we forget the sweetness of freshness in exchange for the
hubbub of the demands of daily life?

Why do we lose touch with people with whom we share such
intense connection?

How far would you go and how much would you give for your friends?

This movie will continue to travel with me over the next several
days... its just one of those movies. I am so glad I revisited it now that I have grown past the age of the players... and I am
glad I saw it before, when I was just stepping into adulthood.

This would be a great one to watch with high school aged
children to get them thinking about these big questions when
they are still young... while they might not "get" it at the time,I have a feeling it will stick with them..... at least a little... and echo through their thoughts in the days and years to come.

Let's also not forget the incredible music, beautiful background scenery and the variety of stories scattered throughout the main story line all woven together in this marvelous, tasty tapestry. Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy.

The only thing I could relate to in this film was the loss of a 'friend' to a suicide and the music.

I was expecting, as it says on the back cover, a movie that was "funny and ferociously smart" (quote from Richard Corliss, Time.)

A small group of college friends of the deceased are brought back together, after a number of years of being out of college, by the suicide of a friend. I can say that the way the people acted was a bit weird, but then there is always an air of akward energy at any fuernal.

They spend a week-end at a friends, and as they have gone on with their lives, and a story line starts to develop along the lines of "why did our friend commit suicide?" which unfortunately is never developed (nor are any of the other stories.)

Although the the favorite music of someone who's passed is familiar (as this is custom to many people at funerals) and the Rolling Stones, "Can't Always Get What You Want" fits the entire movie (and what I was feeling about the movie, as I received it as a gift!), that is likely the most realistic part. The deceased prolly never got what he wanted or needed, nor did anyone else in the movie! Like I said, depressing!

A grouping of great actors, a pretty good idea, but other than the music, the movie is simply depressing. How many people find a trip to a funeral (or the aftermath) 'fun' or 'funny?' (I do recall some movie that included a funeral, but this certainly wasn't it!)

I'm sure for those who liked Motown music from the late 60's/early 70's, the soundtrack might be a good choice.

There isn't much to say about the story, as there isn't much of a story. man takes his life, friends come to a funeral, and have a week-end together and they all seem pretty unhappy with their lives as well.

While there is a need for coming-of-age ceremony is our society, and the movie (seemingly without the knowledge of the directors, writers or actors) seems to make that obvious, there really isn't much of a story at all... there IS a mish-mash of people thrown together by the funeral, and their reminising about their 'old times' (but that isn't really developed in the movie either!) and about being lost and unhappy themselves.

The uncomfortableness of the situation surronding their getting together for the funeral is felt and is depressing, but then the story sprials out into the mish-mash, and this part of the story gets lost as well.

A lot of good ideas thrown together, but none really developed.

Yes, I cried, and it made me uncomfortable as I cringed with the actors/actresses as they were akward at the beginning at the funeral, but after that the stories that were being developed are lost, and you have to wonder what happened to them!?!

There could have been about 3-4 great movies made with the ideas, and the ideas developed fully. Instead, this movie hacks them into bits, then putting together like making an awesome dinner, then deciding to add all the ingredients from all the parts of the dinner into one bowl and making a disappointing mess.

I can totally see why this movie was turned down by so many studios (according to the director/writer in the additional features section) and why those people didn't 'get it.' I don't either, and I am from that generation, DID go to college , and DID experience not only one suicide, but several.

Funny? I felt sad that the suicide parts were lost, along with every other story that starts in this movie (then disappears into oblivian.) I tried watching it again with a friend (from college mind you - thinking the suicide thing might be a little too close to home for me,as well as watching it during the holidays) and he thought it was depressing as well (and he didn't know the people I knew that had really committed suicide - I thought it was just me.)

The part that is apparently supposed to get across that this guy (who you never see) who commits suicide did so as a result of his disappointment in himself is never developed (this idea was explained in the documentary, but the movie never gets it across), and why he actually did it, no one really seems to care, other than some idol curiosity - hardly what anyone really does in real life.

The music and the cars are the best parts of the movie. Other than this, it's a total waste. I never heard about his movie when it came out, but then I was busy working and raising kids like most of us in this generation, in the early 1980's!

If you like laughing at tragety in people's lives, and/or were an raging bully with nothing better to do and still carry that behavoir, I can see why you'd like it. (And PLEASE get some help!)

If this movie serves any purpose at all, it reminds us of those people who were hurtful/abusive towards ourselves and others in a deep, lasting way. (perhaps another reason why I found it so depressing, as it was the very people like this that lead to a couple of the suicides of those I knew, and several attempted suicides of others.)

If you like this movie, you might ask yourself why? What is it one likes & enjoys about watching personal pain and tragety of others? And you might go see a psychoanalist or psychiatrist, as you might just need some serious help, and may be hurting those around you without even realizing it.

I could watch this movie over and over, especially the less stressful parts. To me, this movie has that in common with "Four Weddings and a Funeral": it's one of those movies you can just enjoy painlessly.
What a relief it is to see Glenn Close behaving like a 100% normal person for once! I think all of the actors behave differently here than in any other film in their careers. They're almost unrecognizable. It's like you are actually spending time with them, not watching them "work."

The soundtrack is great, the story is just superb, well told, well acted, impeccable timing.
And watching that young girl stretching her legs almost all the way behind her head, like it's effortless has always made me green with envy.

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).

I've grown in and out and up and around the Big Chill over the last 20 years, but I get a craving to watch it every so often. I love the family the friends have made, the sound bites, and the music.
We have worn out our video tape, so while watching it today I figured it's time to buy a DVD.

Aaaa...what a great movie. There are two main ways to view The Big Chill....
1. as a mindless, pointless showing of 7 drug-using former hippies from the University of Michigan(plus the clueless girlfriend of their suicidal friend) hatched up in a Southern plantation house for a few days, remembering their dead friend Alex after they reunite from various areas for his funeral.
2. As a fun, surprisingly-realistic look at REAL friendship and how, if you dont keep it up, it can drift slowly away. At how love and friendship are the most important things in life, and may be the key to happiness. At how true friendship never really disappears, and how it can be triggered once again, after a few days of getting high and singing and dancing to oldies with college friends. :)
I sure hope 6 of my best friends and I can someday hang out in a plantation house together for a weekend.
The soundtrack to this movie is GREAT and is ALL oldies, including Marvin Gaye, Three Dog Night and The Temptations. A Fun, worthwhile movie with some funny one-liners.

Second film of director Lawrence Kasdan, THE BIG CHILL could have been a confidential movie reserved to the 1970 american college educated generation. Fortunately a great cinematography and 8 outstanding actors have put some universality in Kasdan's screenplay.

I saw THE BIG CHILL in the theaters in 1983 and what has stayed in my memory from this film is its first scene : the preparation of Alex dead body for the funeral. With a 1970 musical score. Really haunting.

Most of the picture has very well passed the test of time except maybe for Sarah's amical sacrifice of her husband's fidelity. A little bit ridiculous in my opinion.

Bonus features consist in a documentary with interviews of the director, the cast and the editor as well as SILVERADO's theatrical trailer.

A wish you were here DVD.