Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Sayles

Writer:

John Sayles (writer)

Release Date:

5 September 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Seven former college friends, along with a few new friends, gather for a weekend reunion at a summer house in New Hampshire to reminisce about the good old days, when they got arrested on the way to a protest in Washington, DC.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | New Hampshire | Protest | Reunion | College Friend

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Bruce MacDonald	...	Mike Donnelly
Maggie Renzi	...	Katie Sipriano
Adam LeFevre	...	J.T.
Maggie Cousineau	...	Frances Carlson
Gordon Clapp	...	Chip Hollister
Jean Passanante	...	Irene Rosenblue
Karen Trott	...	Maura Tolliver
Mark Arnott	...	Jeff Andrews
David Strathairn	...	Ron Desjardins
John Sayles	...	Howie
Marisa Smith	...	Carol
Amy Schewel	...	Lacey Summers
Carolyn Brooks	...	Meg
Eric Forsythe	...	Captain
Nancy Mette	...	Lee

Also Known As:

Return of the Secaucus 7 (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) (2006) | UK:AA (original rating) | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Jackson, New Hampshire, USA

Company:

Salsipuedes Productions

Quotes:

Frances Carlson: You know, I can't imagine you guys teaching. I mean, is it the same old stuff we got?
Mike Donnelly: Well, I start the year with the Boston Police Strike.
Irene Rosenblue: They let you teach *that*?
Mike Donnelly: They let you teach just about anything, so long as you keep the students from knifing each other.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

I Brake for Animals

Did we all see the same film?

Some of the comments about "Return" are amazingly vitriolic and appear to have been written by people who hate independent films in general, or who hate "reunion" movies, or who hate low-budget movies, etc., etc., etc. If your comfort zone is Hollywood films with predictable plots and pretty, more or less interchangeable faces you've seen over and over, why watch this film at all?

There are also some misstatements of fact among the comments--it is amazing that someone thinks that "The Big Chill," a blatant piece of Hollywood plagiarism, preceded and inspired this film--but particularly off base is the remark that few of the actors in the film have many additional credits. Yes, there are several actors with only one to three credits. But more than half of them have numerous credits, some as many as 90, and some as writers and producers as well as actors. Furthermore, many of the credits are excellent--most of the TV credits, for example, are for series that are critically acclaimed. In addition, four or five of the actors are well known and respected in the business, whether they are household names or not. If you can use IMDb well enough to make comments, you can also check the accuracy of such statements before making them.

The film may not seem gripping now, since the reunion thing has been done to death. But it is a very important movie, in terms of advancing the popular acceptance of independent films and, of course, launching John Sayles' brilliant career, one which has contributed in a major way to the culture of this country and indeed the world. And it is still good watching for those who do not expect all films to be about action.