MovieChat Forums > The Big Chill (1983) Discussion > More Like The Big Dull

More Like The Big Dull

posted 4 years ago by spacecomedy (1961)
28 replies | jump to latest

I can’t believe this film was nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar. It plays out like a Time-Life commercial for a generic “Sounds of the 60s” CD box set. When it came out in 1983, it got mostly glowing reviews from reviewers who were likely the same age as the characters. It hasn’t aged well compared to other popular films like WarGames, Mr. Mom, Trading Places, The Outsiders, and Tender Mercies. All those films had far better scripts than this clunker. It’s filled with characters that are way less interesting than the writers seem to think they are. The most cringeworthy bit was the ending where Sarah (Glenn Close) convinces her husband Harold (Kevin Kline) to act like a stud farm Secretariat by sleeping with her friend as a “favor.” Totally unbelievable and totally gross.

Food in Films: So many scenes to choose from. Let's go with Wonton Express. They're so posh they even pair it with Asian beer.

[–] Owlwise (1490) 4 years ago

The spoiler part of your post isn't entirely unbelievable, though, given the mores of their youth, which were more casual & giving about sex. They could easily have looked on it as a generous & considerate thing for friends to do for one another. It was a totally different zeitgeist then! I'm of an age with them & I could see it as generous & considerate for some, if not for myself.

I do agree that the characters all seem to be more "written" than actually lived. For a more accurate view of post-60s people, go to The Return of the Secaucus Seven; or even better, Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000. The latter still isn't out on an American DVD, unfortunately, though it might be found online; but it deals with friends who are former young countercultural rebels, still trying to live out their ideals in a very changed world. None of them have the glamorous careers of the people in The Big Chill; they're far more realistic & complex than that.

[–] spacecomedy (1961) 4 years ago

Maybe some people (definitely not everyone) of their generation had more casual attitudes about sex (after all, Harold did forgive Sarah's affair with Alex), but in their own house?! Yeesh. Get a motel room!

Thanks for the recommendation for Return of the Secaucus 7. I'll add it to my list since I enjoy Sayles' films. Eight Men Out and Matewan are both excellent.

[–] Owlwise (1490) 4 years ago

The acting is uneven in Sayles' low-budget film, but overall it's a strong story, and also a fairly honest one. I completely agree with you about Sayle's work, which is always rewarding. :)

To this day I have very mixed feelings about The Big Chill. It does touch on the ways some people from my generation adjusted & sometimes compromised as they got older—don't we all to some degree?—but they never quite convince me that they were as genuinely countercultural in their youth as the script wants to make us believe.

[–] spacecomedy (1961) 4 years ago

You make a good point that they were never as genuinely countercultural as they might've thought they were. Sarah even says something to that effect when she asks, "Was it all just fashion?" And yes, you're right, nearly everyone makes compromises as they get older.

[–] Owlwise (1490) 4 years ago

For at least some of them, I think it was, or just doing what was cool & popular at the time. Which is different even from more middle-of-the-road kids actually intrigued by some of the ideas being tested, who might have incorporated a little of that into their lives for real—I'm one of those, I guess. I can smile ruefully at some of the things I embraced back then, but there's a fair amount that still makes sense to me—the best of it, I hope. Life is a lot easier with the intensity & fervor of youth in many ways; but getting older requires more depth & complexity, if done right. Or so it seems to me as I head towards my 67th birthday in just three more months. :)

The characters in both Secaucus Seven & Jonah are the real thing, however. They're trying to figure out what to keep, what to let go of, and how to live forward in a changed world, not to lose their integrity but not to cling to what doesn't work any longer, either.

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

What happens is a group of HIPPIES become YUPPIES once they graduate from college and needed to earn a living and support themselves.

And that's also made evident when they discover how much Alex regrets turning down his scholarship or his fellowship in physics.

Because by doing that he also didn't go on to have a successful career like the rest of them do, and he only drifts from job to job before finally taking his own life because he felt like a failure.

And he also felt like a failure due to his clinging to his ANTI ESTABLISHMENT VIEWS about how life wasn't about MAKING MONEY (a view which the others also gave up when they went to work and started earning a living).

[–] Owlwise (1490) 3 years ago

Quite a few hippies didn't become yuppies, but did find steady lifetime work that was still compatible with their beliefs & also contributed to the well-being of the world, e.g., education, psychology, the arts, healthcare, and so on.

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

Yes you're right Owlwise, and didn't they also say that's what Alex had been doing was working in jobs where that's what he hoped he was doing???

But for some reason that still wasn't good enough to keep him from regretting not having accepted the offer to continue on with what had been a promising career in PHYSICS.

And perhaps his regretting having turned down that offer was also related to the affair that he'd had with Sarah (the doctor who married Harold instead of him)???

Because she'd also chosen to spend her life with the guy who was more ambitious and made more MONEY than he did ???

So maybe he also felt like all of his friends who had previously BAD MOUTHED MAKING MONEY had turned their backs on him and their previous values???

And isn't that also what "The BIG CHILL" is also in reference to??? That Alex felt like he'd been given "The BILL CHILL" by them??? And then they also felt the same way when they get phone calls letting them know that he was dead???

Then they also feel a CHILL from having not remained in contact with him due to the way that they were all too busy with the PURSUIT of making MONEY???

And the attorney also explained how at first she'd also tried working with criminals as a way to try and better the world for awhile, but had then been so repulsed by that job that she'd taken that other job where she made a lot more MONEY dealing in REAL ESTATE law???

It's definitely a much more interesting film than some people are willing to give it credit for being. Because apparently some viewers who attack it also don't seem to be able to pick up on the kind of SUB TEXTUAL messages that one can find throughout the story. And that's also the reason why it's such a pleasure whenever someone encounters someone like yourself who has the ability to do that.

👍👍👍👍👍

[–] Adam60z (3749) 4 years ago

I agree. Saw this one in the theater and remember how much it was lauded by the critics (read cheerleaders) as a definitive film about the '60s generation. Then I saw it: "WTF are the critics talking about!" thought I. It's a poor script and poor acting. Very little to do with the '60s aside from the randomly picked out soundtrack. Many other great '60s films out there. I'd say skip this one!

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Oh God, the young generations of so Puritanical it hurts...

[–] spacecomedy (1961) 3 years ago

If it's Puritanical to think it's weird that a woman would ask her husband to sleep with one of her best friends to try to get her pregnant then I guess I should be wearing a Pilgrim hat. ;)

I love older movies but this script is so awkward it made me cringe. There's plenty of better films about boomers like "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Ordinary People."

[–] SandyR (7347) 3 years ago

None of those other movies you mentioned have aged as well as The Big Chill.

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

I think it could be interesting to have a SEQUEL to see how their kids turned out, and how well (or not well) what would now be the group of GRANDPARENTS related to their GRANDKIDS.

Perhaps the reason for another REUNION could also be because the child/grandchild of one of them OD's on prescription meds while they're in college? So another funeral brings them all back together again at Harold & Sarah's again???

And they could also have Karen's kids or grandkids be members of Q or another CONSPIRACY MEGA group that attacked the CAPITAL on Jan 6th (due to the way that her husband was also a PURITANICAL CONSERVATIVE type who also said that he could imagine what they said about him as Karen also looks away from him).

So his kids would most likely also be the type to hold those kind of views about others who had more PROGRESSIVE looking points of view.

Then maybe we could also end up with a little Mini VERSION of the INSURRECTION again at the FUNERAL as the 2 different points of view (RED state vs Blue state type of stuff) CLASHED???

[–] SandyR (7347) 3 years ago

Better not let Hollywood see that, they'll steal it for sure!

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) a year ago

The Outsiders is a period piece, so I suspect that's probably aged better than some 1983 films set in the present, and whilst Trading Places has some very dodgy moments (i.e. Dan Aykroyd in Blackface, ape rape, the 'n' word), it's still generally a much loved comedy that has some pertinent things to say about the 1980s, as well as pretty much every decade since, alas...

But I do think The Big Chill is a better film than the OP is arguing.

[–] liscarkat (16522) a year ago

It's a lot of pretentious drivel. I'm the same age as the characters and actors who portrayed them, and they just seem like a bunch of pompous yuppies to me. Their raving about the music, played during their youth, but which they haven't developed beyond, is particularly eye-rolling. Anyone who thinks he's hip and deep because he still listens to his high school tunes and smokes weed is pathetic.

[–] spacecomedy (1961) a year ago

Spot on! My in-laws are the same age as the characters and are nothing like the youth-obsessed bores in the film. There's plenty of people who came of age in the 60s and grew up to be sensible adults...who acted like adults. Makes sense that the characters are friends because they're all equally annoying.

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) a year ago

"Their raving about the music, played during their youth, but which they haven't developed beyond, is particularly eye-rolling."

I thought the discussion about music was quite interesting. Jeff Goldblum's character calls out Kevin Kline's for being 'stuck in the 60s' and only listening to music from the era in which they were college kids, and the truth is, most people in my experience tend to get fixated with a certain era of music (most likely the one they spent their formative years in), even if they like a few contemporary songs.

[–] Gd5150 (11015) a year ago

It is that, but most people hold onto the era in their lives when they were at their “coolest”. Which for most was college, or soon after.

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) a year ago

It speaks to a certain generation (i.e. not ours, although I personally like the film), a generation that came of age during the free sex era, and would think nothing of allowing their partner to sleep with a friend as long as it was done in an open manner.

I haven't seen Mr. Mom, but are you saying that a film where a grown man struggles with the *shock* of being a house-husband and raising the kids, whilst his wife goes to work, has aged better than The Big Chill? Even the title is patronising (i.e. 'Mr. Mom', as if housework and child-raising was somehow intrinsically a mother's role), and I say that as a big fan of Michael Keaton.

Also, I suspect, The Big Chill has aged far better than another 1983 movie, the Tom Cruise as a loveable yuppie pimp high-school comedy, Risky Business.

[–] spacecomedy (1961) a year ago

Mr. Mom is funny, emotionally satisfying, and deals with issues like corporate layoffs and child care that families still contend with today. You should give it a watch, bet you'd enjoy it.

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) a year ago

Okay, I'll take your recommendation. I do like 80s comedy movies, especially if they feature Michael Keaton and/or Christopher Lloyd. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to get broadcast on TV much these days.

[–] Tongue (445) a year ago

The Big Chill still stands up in 2023 - it’s a great film - deep and funny. I haven’t seen a modern film that matches it

[–] looper007 (1126) 8 months ago

That's kind of true, I haven't seen a film like this and based on the same premise that equals the quality of Big Chill after it. Although I do think John Sayles did a film before this based on same premise called Return of the Secaucus 7, made in 1979. It's a lower budget film and doesn't have the starry cast or soundtrack of Kasdan's film (only David Strathairn would be known from most unknown cast). But it's every bit as great as Big Chill. This is the premise ...

"Seven baby boomers with ties to the antiwar movement of the '60s get together for a weekend at the home of teachers Mike (Bruce MacDonald) and Katie (Maggie Renzi). What should be a peaceful reunion, however, is rife with drama. Longtime couple Jeff (Mark Arnott) and Maura (Karen Trott) are separating, speechwriter Irene (Jean Passanante) is self-conscious about her conservative boyfriend (Gordon Clapp), and Frances (Maggie Cousineau) has a flirtation with a local mechanic (David Strathairn)."

Another I like that isn't as good as Big Chill but well worth checking out is Kenneth Branagh called Peter's Friend's With Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Branagh and Hugh Laurie. It's basically the Big Chill but set in England.

[–] Gd5150 (11015) a year ago

Meh, it’s still a good movie despite the pretentiousness. It has 100x the amount of writing and character development as any comic book/super hero flick from the last 20 years.

For that alone it gets a thumbs up.

[–] Tongue (445) a year ago

Amen! God I was beyond bored if the action comic book movies a year or so ago but they keep pumping them out! Zzzz

Big Chill is pretty unique the way it tackles its themes. I can’t think of a modern movie that comes close to it

[–] Wuchak (8108) a year ago

"3 Nights in the Desert" is similar, involving three former-bandmates reuniting at the age of 30. It's a low-budget Indie, but I prefer it to "The Big Chill." That awkward insemination subplot lowered my appreciation. (Why Sure!). Although, in it's defense, Kasdan was presumably trying to illustrate how close the old gang was.

[–] Tongue (445) a year ago

Nice and I will check that out. Thx

Btw I’d love a sequel to be made to the Big Chill - show us where the characters are at and how they deal with their children(and grand children) .. this is something I’d get really excited about