Film Review: The Big Chill (1983)

(source: tmdb.org)

Boomers are the generation most responsible for the problems in today’s world, mainly due to very long and powerful sway they hold over business, politics and culture in many countries, as well as their egoism and selfishness. On the other hand, Boomers are also generation that is likely to leave most comprehensive record of their mindset and how it evolved through the years. Some of those changes are main subject of The Big Chill, 1983 drama directed by Lawrence Kasdan.

The protagonists are the small group of friends who had met as students at University of Michigan in late 1960s, when they indulged in sex, drugs and rock’n’roll and thought that they could change the world through radical left politics. Fifteen years later they are reunited when Alex Marshall, one of them, commits suicide, leaving his much younger girlfriend Chloe (played by Meg Tilly) and no explanation for his act. It happened in the home of Alex’s friends – successful shoe manufacturer Harold Cooper (played by Kevin Kline) and his physician wife Sarah (played by Glenn Close). The couple volunteers to host other friends who came to attend the funeral. They include Michael Gold (played by Jeff Goldblum), once aspiring writer who now works as tabloid journalist; Sam Weber (played by Tom Berenger), successful television star who is completely clueless about life outside Hollywood; Meg Jones (played by Mary Kay Place), once radical attorney who switched to real estate career and is more concerned about having baby before biological clock ticks off; Karen Bowens (played by JoBeth Williams), housewife and mother of two who gets increasingly frustrated with marriage to rich, older and boring husband Richard (played by Don Galloway); Nick Carlton is Vietnam War veteran whose life turned to drugs, a habit he supports as a dealer. The group spends weekend together reminiscing about old times, enjoying food, alcohol and drugs and trying to find comfort for the every day problems in each other.

The Big Chill is one of the best acted films of its time. This is due to formidable ensemble cast, which featured some actors who would become great stars of 1980s Hollywood. The biggest of them, Kevin Costner, ironically got edited out of the film. Despite his absence, The Big Chill works due to great chemistry between the rest of the group. Kasdan achieved that by insisting that the actors spend weeks before the actual shoot by living together, thus making their on-screen interactions look completely relaxed and natural. The script, co-written by Kasdan and Barbara Benedek, partially inspired by Kasdan’s experiences at University of Michigan, very intelligently and very honestly depicted trials and tribulations of generation which believed that would be forever young only to suddenly face encroaching middle age; their youthful idealism and desire to radically changed the world was even before that replaced with materialism that would find its ultimate expression in embracing the values of Reagan’s America. The script, however, isn’t perfect and has one major flaw. Almost all of the friends (with exception of Nick) are successful and wealthy and the plot takes place in large mansion which most people even in those times couldn’t afford and it is even less likely that they can afford it now. It is, therefore, somewhat difficult to identify with those people and their problems, which mostly revolve around romantic disappointments, look quite shallow. The soundtrack is made of 1960s pop and rock hits that serve as some sort of commentary, but actually add nothing but add some sort of nostalgia that would be lost to viewers that belong to younger generations. The Big Chill could be recommended because of fine acting, occasional dip into humour and interesting depiction of Boomers’ mindset, but it’s hardly a great film you could expect based on its talented cast or Academy Award nomination.

RATING: 6/10 (++)