“The Big Chill” Review
(From Left to Right, Top Row then Bottom) Future stars JoBeth Williams, Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, William Hurt, Meg Tilly and Jeff Goldblum portray college friends brought together through grief in the 1980s classic “The Big Chill.”
It’s odd how some films are meant for a specific demographic but, over the years, develop a following amongst other groups like “Dazed and Confused” and “Clerks.” 1983’s “The Big Chill” was clearly made for the Baby Boomer generation, but it has become an endearing masterpiece for newer generations. And for that, I am grateful.
The film stars an incredible cast of future A-listers as a group of 1960s University of Michigan alumni, reunited after the suicide of their friend Alex in 1983. After attending the funeral, they all stay in the same house over the weekend where they reminisce about their old adventures, reflect on where they are now and try to see where they should collectively go after the weekend.
While all of the actors in this film would become huge names, they were still unknown when making “The Big Chill” which is definitely an advantage. There’s something scary and exciting about casting unknowns. On the one hand, it means that we don’t see them as a movie star, we see them as the character. But it also significantly reduces the marketability of the film.
Fortunately, the film made over $50 million on an $8 million budget and many people saw these Baby Boomers and who they had become: modified (even warped) versions of who they wanted to be back in college.
Meg (Mary Kay Place) wanted to help people like “Huey and Bobby,” and became cynical, switching to real estate law and making lots of money. Michael (Jeff Goldblum) is a journalist but he writes for People Magazine and he’s tired of writing pieces that people read “while they’re on the can.” Karen (JoBeth Williams) is also a writer but she feels trapped in a loveless marriage and feels like she had to put her dreams aside to raise her children.
Sam (Tom Berenger) was a powerful activist turned actor who now stars in a “Magnum P.I.” knockoff which he’s embarrassed by. After college, Nick (William Hurt) fought in Vietnam and was left impotent from a wound he received. When he moved back to the U.S., he became a radio psychologist and now abuses painkillers to avoid reality.
Harold and Sarah Cooper (Kevin Kline and Glenn Close) appear to be the only ones in the group who feel legitimately happy with their lives: being married to each other, having kids and owning the home the group stays in over the weekend.
But all of them have one thing in common: they all love each other, including Alex, and are searching for meaning in what appears to be a meaningless act. Alex didn’t leave a suicide note and even his girlfriend Chloe (Meg Tilly), who stays with the group, has no idea as to why Alex took his own life.
The relationship between Nick (William Hurt) and Harold (Kevin Kline) is especially interesting as Harold has his life together while Nick is a wandering soul.
“The Big Chill” asks an essential question at Alex’s funeral service that the viewer, and the group, must solve. The minister (James Gillis) asks “Where did Alex’s hope go?” To put it simply, it went away. It left this Earth after too much pain. Because I’m incredibly analytical, I looked for symbolism in the film and I realized that Alex represents the 1960s, an oxymoronic time of peace and love but war and destruction. Alex truly stands in for the pursuit of human connection that was torn apart.
By the late 1960s, the cracks were already in place to destroy the quest for peace. Leaders of change were assassinated, the Vietnam War was getting worse instead of better and 1969 saw the end of the era of innocence with the Manson Murders and the Altamont Festival.
The 1970s became worse as we effectively lost in Vietnam, inflation rose dramatically, faith in government was shaken by President Nixon and the Watergate Scandal and terrorism engulfed many parts of the world. On top of that, The Beatles broke up and Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Duane Allman, Berry Oakly, Jim Croce, Keith Moon and Jim Morrison all died.
By the time the 1980s came around, it was all over. Reagan was in the White House, yuppies became a commodity, the Moral Majority had risen and all of those idealistic young people who wanted peace had become apathetic and let this happen.
Alex was a scientific genius who abandoned it and just did whatever he wanted, wandering. Because why should he have helped mankind when the notion of doing so died out with a NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) generation which had become self-absorbed and materialistic?
In many ways, Alex is like Rosebud from “Citizen Kane.” He drives the plot but we never really see him except for one scene (the film’s opening where his face is never shown). Alex is less of a man and more of an idea. Something the characters feel more than they see. When Nick says “Alex died for most of us a long time ago,” he’s really talking about their bond and the time period in which they forged it.
But in earlier cuts of the film, flashback scenes set in 1969 were shot showing an alive Alex who was played by Kevin Costner. They were left on the cutting room floor because nothing could live up to the Alex the characters describe. Plus, it’s not like Kevin Costner didn’t have the same level of success as the rest of the film’s cast.
While the circumstances of the film are grim, there’s still hope within the ensemble and they manage to bring it back over the course of the weekend. They find a bit of that 60s energy within themselves while also acknowledging that, in many ways, things aren’t so bad in the present because many of them have good lives on paper. But they don’t have it all.
Lawrence Kasdan’s direction and screenplay, which was co-written by Barbara Benedick, creates a more casual environment which makes the film feel like something to put on and watch with friends. “The Big Chill” is very deep in what it’s saying but it’s also full of life and humor.
The dialogue is more witty and I notice that, in films where the atmosphere is more laid back, there’s greater room for that. It’s much more liberating for the writer to just create conversations that may or may not come back into play when there’s no grand plot or move to get from Point A to Point B. The humor is somewhat morbid but this is a pretty morbid experience: coming together with old friends but only because one of them died.
Frequently cited as one of the best film soundtracks of all time, the music of “The Big Chill” is outstanding with all of the songs being from the 1960s. All of these tracks (which include artists like Three Dog Night, Marvin Gaye and The Band) take the characters back to their roots as college liberals protesting the man, getting high and going to concerts. The music also signifies the now thirty-something protagonists reclaiming their youth in some way which gives them the hope that Alex lost.
They smoke pot, play football and bring back the free love that dominated the hippie culture. Harold and Meg sleep together at Sarah’s request so that Meg can have a child while Sam and Karen also have sex after they realize that they’ve always loved each other. Nick and Chloe also grow incredibly close on an emotional level, since Nick can’t love physically.
While it’s alluded to that Meg will get pregnant and Nick and Chloe will try and make a relationship, not everything is solved. Everyone agrees to go back to their lives with Karen deciding not to leave her husband (Don Galloway) for Sam and Michael no longer wanting to quit his job (although he does plan to write a story or even a whole book about this weekend.)
But they’re different. This weekend has changed them and given them new life. If anything, the film is less about death and more about resurrection. Resurrection of their passions for life and each other. As Michael jokingly says at the end of the film, “we’re never leaving.” The ending of “The Big Chill'' reminds me of the end of “City Slickers” where Billy Crystal says he’s just going to do his job better instead of quitting. They’re not going to upend their lives as they do have responsibilities, but they’re going to make appropriate changes and find joy in what they do have.
The film’s impact is extraordinary as generations of people relate to this film. Kasdan and the films’ stars are still surprised when they’re approached by people from Generations X, Y and Z who say they love the film. But that’s the power of this story.
Many people, when they reunite with old friends or spend time with their friends for an extended weekend, refer to it as a “Big Chill.” Because the title itself refers to taking a pause in life and just hanging out with friends trying to make sense out of the chaos you left behind.
The film’s stretching influence is precisely why young people need to watch old films and old people need to watch new films. Because some films have universal themes and are timeless. “The Big Chill” is one of them.
