Review: The Big Chill (1983)

The Big Chill (1983)

I have just arrived back home for a holiday weekend after quite a long time away and one of my first thoughts upon landing down was thinking back on my recent watch of The Big Chill. Driving through old neighbourhoods, I know that I'll soon be seeing friends, some of whom I haven't seen for a year or more, and I know that as soon as I see them it'll be like no time has passed at all. It's a feeling that's both cheesy and bittersweet, tied deeply into nostalgia and sentimentality. And thinking back on Lawrence Kasdan's film, I realize that he made a close-to-perfect encapsulation of this sentimentality - of old friends reuniting, catching up, and, in some cases, picking up where things were left off many years before.

The plot of The Big Chill is very simple. A group of very close old friends reunite for the funeral of one of their friend's who has recently taken his own life. After the funeral all of the friends decide to stay on for a few more nights at the large bed and breakfast that the couple within the group runs. It is during these few days that the movie takes place, as the friends re-discover each other and help each come to terms with where life has taken them to.

Kasdan's direction is deft; he knows where to focus the camera in the intimate moments between the friends. Speaking of which, the cast and performances are absolutely stellar and many now-famous (though younger) faces will be recognized, including Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Glenn Close, Tom Bergeron and Jeff Goldblum. The other amazing part of the film is the soundtrack, which many notably list as one of the best film soundtracks of all-time. The film is quite bittersweet and thoroughly nostalgic and is a nice choice for an evening when you just want to chill out with old friends.

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