The Big Chill: A Reunion

The retrospective documentary for the zeitgeist movie 'The Big Chill' is fairly interesting. It provides insights into the film-making process for the uninitiated: such as the difficulty actors experience having to respond to music (dance, sing, beat time) when the music isn't actually playing, and the time taken to film the dinner table discussions. It describes the bond the cast formed in staying at the fairly isolated location for the duration of the movie which clearly underlies the strength of their ensemble acting. Unfortunately the documentary doesn't show the flashback scenes which were cut out of the movie (in which Kevin Costner, then a relative unknown, played the dead friend, Alex), though it explains the rationale for doing so. There are some mildly amusing anecdotes thrown in as well, but overall nothing spectacular.