{"id":76400,"date":"2021-09-23T12:30:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T19:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=76400"},"modified":"2023-10-20T13:47:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T20:47:16","slug":"big-chill-the-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=76400","title":{"rendered":"Big Chill, The (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The thing is, nobody said it was gonna be fun. At least, nobody said it to me.&#8221;<\/strong> <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Poster-193x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-76401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Poster-193x300.png 193w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Poster-82x128.png 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Poster-174x270.png 174w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Poster.png 557w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen their friend Alex commits suicide, a group of baby boomers &#8212; including a tabloid writer (Jeff Goldblum), an actor (Tom Berenger), a drug-taking Vietnam vet (William Hurt), a lawyer (Mary Kay Place), and the wife (JoBeth Williams) of a successful businessman (Don Galloway) &#8212; gather at the home of happily married Sarah (Glenn Close) and Harold (Kevin Kline), where Alex&#8217;s young girlfriend (Meg Tilly) is also staying.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Counterculture<\/li>\n<li>Ensemble Cast<\/li>\n<li>Get Togethers and Reunions<\/li>\n<li>Glenn Close Films<\/li>\n<li>Jeff Goldblum Films<\/li>\n<li>Suicide<\/li>\n<li>William Hurt Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary is highly cynical in his review of this film by &#8220;Lawrence Kasdan and his co-writer Barbara Benedek&#8221; about &#8220;seven college radicals from the sixties-early seventies [who] are reunited when the &#8216;leader&#8217; of their former group commits suicide.&#8221; He notes that &#8220;if this is what became of his previously involved, socially conscious friends, then it&#8217;s no wonder the guy committed suicide.&#8221; OUCH! Peary argues that while &#8220;the film is slick and funny,&#8221; it&#8217;s &#8220;infuriating that Kasdan thinks most sixties radicals have gone the way of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jerry_Rubin\">Jerry Rubin<\/a>:&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-76412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline-1536x832.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Hurt-Kline.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and adds that he &#8220;certainly know[s] more people from the sixties protest movement who are more like the characters in John Sayles&#8217;s superior 1980 film <em>Return of the Seacaucus Seven<\/em>&#8221; &#8212; who, &#8220;if they&#8217;re not out in the streets,&#8221; at least &#8220;haven&#8217;t sold out their values and are still doing their part for social change.&#8221; I don&#8217;t believe Kasdan or Benedek think this is what has happened to all &#8220;sixties radicals&#8221; &#8212; or even that this particular group of folks was once &#8220;radical&#8221; so much as idealistic, young, and liberal. The filmmakers are simply telling a slice of reality as they experienced it themselves. <\/p>\n<p>Peary asserts that the &#8220;best, most nostalgic scenes have characters gathering in the kitchen for food and chit-chat&#8221;: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-76403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig-1536x832.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Frig.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-76409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place-1536x832.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-Place.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and argues that while the &#8220;dialogue is sharp,&#8221; it&#8217;s &#8220;too precise (it comes across as if it were <em>written<\/em> rather than delivered spontaneously).&#8221; He notes that the &#8220;most appealing character is the outsider, the dead man&#8217;s young, shallow girlfriend Meg Tilly,&#8221; who &#8220;hasn&#8217;t been formed yet, so she surely hasn&#8217;t been corrupted.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-76410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2-1536x832.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Tilly2.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, several of the other characters are appealing as well, most notably Close as the grieving ex-lover of the deceased friend: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-76413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-1536x832.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Close.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and Berenger&#8217;s refreshingly humble T.V. actor, who hates seeing himself on-screen: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-76414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger-1536x832.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Berenger.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While this immensely popular movie is no longer must-see for all film fanatics, I think it remains worth a look.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strong performances by the ensemble cast<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-76402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble-1536x832.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Big-Chill-Ensemble.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s recommended as an Oscar-nominated one-time favorite. <\/p>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1458\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0085244\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/3997\/the-big-chill#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The thing is, nobody said it was gonna be fun. At least, nobody said it to me.&#8221; Synopsis: When their friend Alex commits suicide, a group of baby boomers &#8212; including a tabloid writer (Jeff Goldblum), an actor (Tom Berenger), a drug-taking Vietnam vet (William Hurt), a lawyer (Mary Kay Place), and the wife (JoBeth Williams) of a successful businessman (Don Galloway) &#8212; gather at the home of happily married Sarah (Glenn Close) and Harold (Kevin Kline), where Alex&#8217;s young&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=76400\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76400"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92636,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76400\/revisions\/92636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}