To really love and enjoy "The Big Chill", it would probably help if you are old...at least 65 but preferably older. I am sure many of that generation love this film...its music, its angst by a generation that were hippies and so much more. Me, I am not exactly young but feel that the movie really isn't speaking to me or my generation...at least not as much so.

When the story begins, an old college friend has killed himself and all of his old college buddies arrive for the funeral. Following it, these once idealistic folks all get together to spend a weekend together. During this time, they talk and talk and talk about their lives, their regrets, angst, how their ideals have vanished and about death. All this is accompanied with pop music from the 60s...and played at a very very high volume compared to other films. I know many loved this music, but it seemed to completely dominate the picture...even more than the 50s music in "American Graffiti".

The acting is good in this one and a lot of famous actors appear in this film before they really hit the big time. The directing will please some...though the rapid edits and way the story shifted from one group to another to another to another left me rather cold. To me, it felt very episodic...and the characters all rather self-absorbed. I didn't particularly enjoy it, though I appreciated aspects of the film and its originality.



FYI, at one point, someone in the film mentions John Beresford Tipton. He was a character from an old 50s TV show "The Millionaire"...if you cared.

Alex has just died and by his own hand. So Kevin Kline and Glenn Close who knew him from college invite several of their chums from college over to their sprawling estate in South Carolina for old time sake. Might be the last time they all get together.

Those watching The Big Chill now can't realize just how idealistic the 60s were for so many young people. When all of them including Alex thought they would be changing the world once they left the cocoon of college. It just didn't work out. It was worse for Alex because he held on to the dream longer than the rest.

Such diverse characters as action hero actor Tom Berenger who tries hard not to believe his own hype and Jeff Goldblum who writes for People Magazine and creates and destroys celebrities. Meg Tilly was Alex's girlfriend and Jobeth Williams who is a housewife and would like to be a writer, just not one like Goldblum. Mary Kay Place thought at one time she would be a public defender defending innocent people from oppression. She's learned over the years that the truly innocent are few and far between. Not every female attorney winds up being Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Most interesting of all is William Hurt and we know a lot of people got through the 60s within a haze of marijuana smoke and other recreational drugs. He decided there was money to be made and while he's on the high end, money he does make in the trade quite illegally.

This is quite an ensemble cast that director Lawrence Kasdan assembled and he gave them some good words to come forth from their mouths. Even better The Big Chill has the ultimate 60s-70s soundtrack to match the changing moods and situations the characters have.

Glenn Close got nominated for a Best Supporting Actress yet it seems almost unfair to single her out. The Big Chill is truly an ensemble effort. It also got nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

For those who were young in the 60s, The Big Chill is your film.

The suicide of their friend Alex brings together a group of college friends with Alex's young girlfriend Chloe (Meg Tilly). Karen Bowens (JoBeth Williams) is unhappily married. Sam Weber (Tom Berenger) is a divorced actor. Michael Gold (Jeff Goldblum) writes for People magazine. Meg Jones (Mary Kay Place) is a disillusioned former defense attorney looking to have a baby. Sarah Cooper (Glenn Close) had an affair with Alex in the past and married to successful businessman Harold Cooper (Kevin Kline). Nick Carlton (William Hurt) is an aimless Vietnam vet permanently dismembered. They stay behind for the weekend and reconnect with old drama and new issues.

It's a feel good movie about a death and life from Lawrence Kasdan. Everybody is living their lives but are trying to come to terms with their former idealism after their compromises. It's a movie about people in a specific time in their lives that are jolted into some reflection. Also it's a great ensemble. Meg Tilly has some hilarious lines. Watching it again recently, it occurs to me that this movie needs a sequel.