bigverybadtom I've heard of the movie and finally found and saw it. I knew what the idea was-a group of former college friends coming together for the funeral of another who had committed suicide, and they stay for the weekend at the summer home of one of them. They speculate on why he committed suicide, talk about their past idealism, what they are doing now and their unhappiness with it, make cynical comments about other people, plot to have sex with each other, plot to break up with their partners-or not. One of them is even a major actor who is a clone of Tom Selleck, with a "Magnum, P. I."-type television show.The problem is, the characters are basically uninteresting and unsympathetic, with their past idealism evidently transient and shallow. One woman who had tried to be a criminal lawyer found her clients detestable, and went into corporate law, one is a Vietnam veteran who uses drugs (but doesn't seem to have been traumatized by any combat experiences), one is obsessed with telling the others of how his small company is about to be bought out by a big corporation and how his friends could make money off this (though he is aware that his saying this is highly illegal), the actor admits he left his wife and children because he was bored with them. Only the host couple come out of this favorably, with their decision not to break up and with the husband rebuking the Vietnam veteran for having mouthed off to a visiting policeman, who had previously saved the couple from criminals.An annoying factor is the constant playing of late 1960's songs, evidently to remind us that these people grew up in that era. Okay, we get the point, there's no need to pound that into our heads. Passable as a soap opera, but this film clearly does not live up to its high reputation.

Amy Adler In South Carolina, a man named Alex commits suicide. He does it at the summer home of a successful duo, Harold (Kevin Kline) a rising running shoe manufacturer and Sarah (Glenn Close) an MD. As Alex was their friend from college days at U of Mich, they were helping him get back on his feet. Now, at the funeral, more friends poor in. Sam (Tom Berenger) is a television star, Meg (Mary Kay Place) is a fine lawyer, Michael (Jeff Goldblum) writes for People Magazine, and Karen (JoBeth Williams) is a housewife with two small boys. Only Nick (William Hurt) seems somewhat adrift, as he failed to complete a doctorate in psychology and is suspected to be a seller of drugs. All of them are grieving for Alex but, as they gather after the funeral, they begin to pick apart how far they have come in the last ten years or so. Gone are the lofty ideals of the Sixties and reality has set in. For example, Meg wanted to be a public defender until she found out how guilty most of her clients were! Now, she has opted for a more lucrative career in real estate law. In short, most of the clan has soberly fallen into jobs and choices that support a typical lifestyle. They are somewhat freaked out by Alex's young girlfriend, Chloe (Meg Tilly) for she has a more cynical view than these Idealists had when they were her age. In a long weekend together, they grieve, reveal secrets, and try to make sense of their existence. What a concept! This classic movie is still a wonderful experience. The cast is superb, with all of them delivering tour de force turns. Also lofty is the script's general scrutiny of living day to day and needing your friends to pull you through. The soundtrack is likewise wonderful with powerful choices of the best of the 60's. Add on great costumes, scenery, and Kasdan's fine direction and the result is mesmerizing. The Big Chill is big on entertainment and enrichment so get it, get it.

Steve Pulaski The Big Chill opens with Harold Cooper (Kevin Kline) and his wife Sarah (Glenn Close) receiving a phone call telling them their friend Alex has just committed suicide. At the subsequent funeral, Harold and Sarah reconnect with their friends from University of Michigan, including Sam (Tom Berenger), a successful actor, Nick (William Hurt), a Vietnam War veteran, Karen (JoBeth Williams), the dissatisfied and frustrated wife to Richard (Don Galloway), Meg (Mary Kay Place), a real estate attorney, Michael (Jeff Goldblum), a womanizing jokester, and Chloe (Meg Tilly), Alex's girlfriend.Following Alex's burial, Harold, much to Sarah's dismay, invites everyone over to their lakehouse for the weekend, where friendships rekindle and old memories are revisited, as the gaggle of formerly close friends decide to recount past experiences and elaborate on current ones in the face of tragedy. The film shows that certain calamity does indeed bring people together, and Alex's death has allowed for a bunch of old chums to address their friendship, and, inevitably, their relationship with Alex, in addition to seeing how they could've prevented Alex's suicide.The Big Chill is a film that winds up swooning people into thinking it's a fairly deep examination of grief and death, in addition to a cultural exploration, when it's really a film that suffers from its own glibness. The film has a lot of great music, which - in its organizations seems more like a 1970's era playlist - sometimes takes prominence over the film's characters. Being that there's little in the way of plot progression, the bulk of the film is left up to the characters, whom do an middling job at keeping the film going for the first half, at least.The problem with The Big Chill is the real film doesn't start until the last forty minutes. The real animosity and drama doesn't begin until all the small-talk is out of the way, and while that's maybe commonplace for these kinds of situations, it makes for a film with stifling inertness. During the first hour, the only remotely interesting character is Michael, thanks to his hilarious insights ("It's unfair that they throw you a great party when they know you're not going to be there," he states during Alex's funeral) and his wit, while the remainder come off as narcissistic brats with little offer.The music in The Big Chill is uniformly strong, recreating that nostalgic vibe of the 1960's and rekindling that spark of youthful idealism and the inspiration of hope and change. It also works to help the audience remind themselves of the time period in which these characters grew up, with hits from Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Temptations, and Aretha Franklin, all of whom adding to the feel of the 1960's encapsulated in a film set years after the decade of revolutionary change in America. The problem is that, with this assortment of terrific tracks and their placement in the film, The Big Chill feels like a mixtape or a playlist, inevitably spawning keen memories but doing little in the way of being substantial or memorable in a long-term sense.The remaining forty minutes, however, challenges screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan (who also serves as director) and Barbara Benedek, in addition to the characters they have penned for this film. The final act of the film allows for true emotions to bleed through, and the soundtrack to finally take a backseat to some real emotional honesty, in a film that has ostensibly been delaying it with recognizable golden oldies and chuckle-inducing dialog. The focus on pathos becomes much darker, and the eventual sympathy and sorrow for Alex's untimely death is finally questioned in a way that forces all the characters to be interrogated in some way.While The Big Chill develops into a more watchable film during its last forty minutes than it was in the preceding sixty, it's ultimately still a film too focused on glib revelations and momentarily insightful instances. It's the kind of film that, during its time and its era, it was seen as an intelligent and fascinating social critique, whereas in the present day, it's nothing more than a potential-filled drama that is nowhere near as relevant or as impacting as it was in its heyday (along with other films like Easy Rider).Starring: Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, JoBeth Williams. Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan.

TheUniquePerception This one has it all. If you ever had a really tight knit group of school friends that you absolutely love and then spent years without them, this film will allow you to feel like you are having a reunion with your friends. The closeness, inside jokes, various personalities, mini-dramas all add to the flavor. The soundtrack is one of the best of all time and the storytellers use the music to connect the audience with the characters. For such a large cast of strong actors, this group does a wonderful job not to overshadow one another. It is a harmonious blend of styles and personalities that can make solid use of non-verbal communication. I have viewed thousands of movies. Very, very few deserve a second viewing. The Big Chill is one that I have enjoyed at least ten times over the years.