The Big Chill

"I feel like I was at my best when I was with you people." - Sarah

release year: 1983
genre: drama
viewing setting: home DVD 11/23/13

synopsis: A group of college friends reunites for a weekend after one of their number commits suicide.

impressions: This is one of those feel-good movies from the 80s that had a lot of up-and-coming actors and music from the 60s. While the initial purpose of the post-funeral weekend gathering is just to hang out, various members of the group explore other things, like why their friend killed himself, what they've been doing with their lives, whether they're happy, what mistakes they made and if it's possible to fix them at this point, and so on.

acting: Lots of strong roles here. Tom Berenger is the successful but lonely TV star. Glenn Close and Kevin Kline are the stable couple. William Hurt is the weird one. Mary Kay Place is the career-came-before-business-and-it's-getting-too-late-to-have-a-family lawyer. JoBeth Williams is the unhappyily-married-to-an-outsider one. Jeff Goldblum is the dork. Meg Tilly is another outsider, but she gets to hang out with the group because she was dating the deceased friend.

final word: Good relive-your-part drama.

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