A group of seven former college friends gather for a week-end reunion at a South Carolina vacation home after the funeral of another of their college friends.
A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.
Director:
George Roy Hill
Stars:
Robin Williams,
Mary Beth Hurt,
Glenn Close
In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.
A seminal Thirty-Something movie in which a group of old college friends who are now older and experienced come together for the funeral of Alex, who was at one time the brightest and the best of them at college and yet who never managed to find his way. The friends use the occasion to reacquaint themselves with each other, discuss where their lives have led and speculate on what happened to their idealism which had been abundant when they were younger.Written by
Mark Thompson <mrt@oasis.icl.co.uk>
Drawing on their own theatrical experience, many of the actors compared the atmosphere on the set during rehearsal and during filming to that of a workshop, allowing them to be comfortable and creative, and to take risks. They all cited one example of that atmosphere: a marathon improvisation prior to the start of production, during which each of them stayed in character for over five hours, merging their identity with that of the characters in the film. See more »
Goofs
During the precredits bath tub sequence, right before "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" begins, Jonathan Kasdan (little boy in tub) breaks character and whispers to Kevin Kline "I don't know that part". See more »
Quotes
Sam Weber:
Do you think we're all trying trying to avoid dealing with Alex? You know, every time it comes up somebody changes the subject.
Nick:
Hey, it's a dead subject.
See more »
Alternate Versions
In the original, in the nighttime scene under the dock with Karen and Sam, after Sam explains why their relationship wouldnt work, Karen says "don't give me that shit!". For the network version, its changed to "Don't Give me that Junk!". See more »
"The Big Chill" is about my peers. When first released in 1983, I, like the characters, was in my early thirties, a former rebellious collegian from the '60s. After a decade in the work-a-day world, being a family man and raising babies, watching "The Big Chill" was like a fantastic time machine and took me back to places long forgotten. It really connected with me on a visceral level and I loved it.
Now, almost twenty years later, I've watched "The Big Chill" again. Same effect? Not exactly, although a lot of this may be due to the effect of viewing any movie a second time. My views of the 60s are not so gilded as they were then either. "The Big Chill" is still a very good movie; you have to love it for the ensemble acting. So many of the actors in the movie went on to have respected careers in the 80s and 90s. It's one of those rare movies like "American Graffiti" and "Diner" that served as a launch pad for acting careers. And the soundtrack is perfect, capturing the breadth of late '60s pop music. I really wish Kasdan had done with these characters, what Updike did with his "Rabbit" novels, that is, show the characters at ten year intervals through their lives.
This is one of the better movies of this type and is highly recommended even for the gen-x'ers.
54 of 68 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
"The Big Chill" is about my peers. When first released in 1983, I, like the characters, was in my early thirties, a former rebellious collegian from the '60s. After a decade in the work-a-day world, being a family man and raising babies, watching "The Big Chill" was like a fantastic time machine and took me back to places long forgotten. It really connected with me on a visceral level and I loved it.
Now, almost twenty years later, I've watched "The Big Chill" again. Same effect? Not exactly, although a lot of this may be due to the effect of viewing any movie a second time. My views of the 60s are not so gilded as they were then either. "The Big Chill" is still a very good movie; you have to love it for the ensemble acting. So many of the actors in the movie went on to have respected careers in the 80s and 90s. It's one of those rare movies like "American Graffiti" and "Diner" that served as a launch pad for acting careers. And the soundtrack is perfect, capturing the breadth of late '60s pop music. I really wish Kasdan had done with these characters, what Updike did with his "Rabbit" novels, that is, show the characters at ten year intervals through their lives.
This is one of the better movies of this type and is highly recommended even for the gen-x'ers.