Premise: After one of them commits suicide, a group of college friends all get together for the first time since graduating for the weekend of the funeral and realize they went from being hippies to yuppies.
I know Boomer bashing is all the rage these days, but I really liked this movie. Because, even though this happens to be about some Boomers, it's about a pretty universal story at its heart, especially if you went away for college. This is about nostalgia, really. Not the dangerous kind of nostalgia. It's about the inevitable kind. We all remember a time when we were young and experiencing freedom for the first time. My friendships from college are different than any of the other friendships in my life. That was a time when I had adult freedom, but really not a lot to do. I hung out with those friends more frequently than any non-family member I've ever had. I miss the days of being about to go on an adventure with a friend on a Wednesday afternoon with no prompting because we were already done with classes that day. It's not necessarily better or worse than what my life at other periods. It's unique from them all.
Add that to the fact that my college friends have all scattered since then. We've all stayed closer than the people in The Big Chill, but we all live in different places now, have more immediate groups of friends, and aren't as tied into each other's lives. It sad, and I miss that, even while I understand the reasons for it. This movie captures all those feeling so well.
Sure, I don't relate to everything. I never believed I would change the world in college (although I did have my own forms of idealism that have morphed as I came to understand the world differently). The amount of success this group had is rather extreme. At least to my knowledge, none of my group are dealing with problems that are as extreme. You know, everyone's genitals are still intact. It's the smaller moments that the film gets so right. I love the web of who has and hasn't kept in touch. I love the way that people who haven't seen each other in years start talking to each other like no time had passed at all. My favorite moment of the movie is at the end with them all eating breakfast together, completely comfortable. This movie feels like required viewing for anyone older than 30.
The cast is unimpeachable. Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, and Kevin Kline to name a few. Find a weak link in this ensemble. The plot is scattered by design. It's more a collection of assorted adventures than a single main narrative, which works wonderfully here. I love the 60s-heavy soundtrack, and this is one of the all-time great "Soundtrack Movies".
I do get that some people have had their fill on Boomer nostalgia, and this won't fix that. Although, it is worth noting that this is one of the earlier examples of it. The film is pretty myopic too. While the feelings of the movie are universal, the demographics and history of it are pretty narrow. Like, I imagine a black character might have a much different opinion about the 60s, but it's a little unfair to judge the film by what it isn't. I can see this movie growing on me even more over the years.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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