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The Big Chill for people who didn't understand The Big Chill

posted 19 years ago by dipped_in_skinus
7 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie premiere at cinevegas this year. During the Q and A session after the screening, the director mentioned that he wanted to make a film of the American Pie genre that was a little more serious and real life, and dealt with some more complex issues. Instead of pushing the boundries of the genre, however, he succeeded in making a movie that had all of the worst conventions of the genre (football players crying for their mothers, and mena suvari), without the best conventions of the genre (mindless, gut busting, cum and feces jokes).
What he accomplished was, to me, a hard-to-watch film that didn't make me laugh or cry, but made me embarassed for Colin Hanks and James Van Der Beek, sitting two rows ahead of me.
The movie didn't really have anything meaningful to say, although it tried. It couldn't really get me interested in ther character's lives, although it tried REALLY hard. It was The Big Chill, only bad, and for people who didn't understand The Big Chill.

[–] shavisimo2 19 years ago

I think you were quite harsh about this movie; I also saw it at the Cinevegas movie festival and I thought it was great. The brilliant young cast meshed together very well (as you could see this weekend at the palms if you were around them) and everyone seemed to have fun with the movie. I spoke with the director after the film and found out how he only had a very small budget and I thought it was remarkable that he could make such a high quality film with a great young cast on that limited amount of money. If you were looking for those mindless jokes you were obviously mislead about what the director was trying to portray - as he said he wanted it to be a more serious version and he was able to put in both sides - the hilarious and serious. You should have came to the Vegas Baby premiere to see those jokes (the movie did not compare to any of the teen movies however). Colin Hanks, John Abrahams, and Ethan Embry were funny throughout Standing Still and James Van Der Beek was so far from his role as Dawson that you could only laugh. Lauren German's lesbian thing was also hilarious and serious at the same time. The movie was awesome and i think it was remarkable what the director was able to do and i truly hope the movie is picked up and put into theatres so i can see it again.

[–] dipped_in_skinus 19 years ago

Don't get me wrong. I understood what he was trying to accomplish. He didn't want to make a typical teen comedy. Instead, he wanted to make a more realistic film that fit into the same genre as some of the teen comedies.
He wanted to make a smart teen comedy so to speak.
As a filmmaker, I can say that nothing about the film really struck me as more than mediocre, and to say that it was "good, considering...", blaming budget or lack of time for the flaws that it had is sort of a cop out. Many better films have been made with much less money and time. What it really came down to was mediocre editing, mediocre direction, and mediocre writing. What could have been a great premise for a movie, and a great movie in general (see The Big Chill), ended up being a pretty cliched sort of dumbed-down movie for twenty-somethings. I'm not buying it. I'd rather watch The Big Chill itself.
I am not trying to be harsh. To be harsh would be to say that the director should hang himself now before he burdens us all with another travesty like this movie. But I don't believe that. In the movies defense, it did have a bit of spunk. The talent was suprising considering the budget, and colin hanks running around naked WAS pretty funny. The movie could do very well if it gets picked up, and I'm sure that it will. It was simply not my kind of film. It is the kind of film that has a great target audience, and frankly I was suprised to see that it didn't win the audience award.

[–] Sternbetrachter 19 years ago

so, we actually get to see some skin? that is, if it ever comes into theaters

[–] javanbutler 18 years ago

This movie went nowere. wait for dvd or cable. The nudity is interesting excuse for a trip to Vegas. This movie could havwe been better.

[–] Rube8201 17 years ago

I agree The Big Chill is a much better movie but this movie was still decent

[–] soleimanpour-5 17 years ago

i agree 100% with the original poster. this movie had its moments... including, yes, colin hanks running around naked, jon abraham's quips, and the few scenes james vander beek was actually given a few lines... however, as a whole, the movie was pretty much a disaster. i agree, the premise could have produced an interesting and compelling film, and i thought the opening scene was going to send us in that direction, but there simply was not enough character development to make anyone care about any of these characters.
first of all, adam garcia's character's sobbing at the end was just mistimed and not enough went into developing any sympathy for him, except for saying, "he had a tough life."
i love jon abrahams, but this neurotic character was simply not him, i just don't buy it. he was defiant in one scene and then completely submissive in the next... it was ridiculous, kudos to jon for at least trying to sell the terrible lines written for him.
i thought lauren german's character was going to bring something edgy to the table. instead what we got was a guy's portrayal of a lesbian. any of the prior baggage she arrived with was wiped away with a joint and a hook-up with mena suvari. suddenly now she's satisfied.
simply put, terrible editing, terrible writing. the writer here overlooked the lessons you learn in screenwriting 101. he would've been best served using more scenes between "Rich" and "Samantha," and developing that relationship to highlight his "we're growing up" theme, as it seemed like Rich was the only character who learned anything, although we are left clueless as to how he got there. the writer also probably should've lumped a couple characters into one character so there was not so much disjointedness... the viewers are not going to care what changes these characters go through if they know nothing about them. if i'm an agent for any of these actors, i would've demanded a rewrite by a pro before shooting began. lucky for them, it seemed like shooting probably only took up about a week or two of their time.

[–] Walls Of Jericho 15 years ago

You are right on. Okay, if you want a more serious and deep movie, how can you have dialogue where guys are standing there just going back and forth about "Love isn't enough for marriage." "Yeah, man sometimes it is.....", "Yeah, dude, well I don't know...." yadda yadda yadda......

Watch the DVD extras, and you'll hear Amy Adams and the other kid, Adam Garcia going on and on about how the script was like nothing they read before....I'm guessing they were just happy to have starring roles at the time......