The Big Chill **** (1983, Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline) – Classic Movie Review 7659

Director Lawrence Kasdan’s 1983 comedy drama The Big Chill is a sardonic and amusing look at a band of seven former college buddies from the radical Sixties who reunite for a friend’s funeral for a weekend at a South Carolina winter house in the ‘me decade’ of the Eighties.

It is a quintessential thirtysomething movie and seminal ensemble performance movie. It was nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture (Michael Shamberg), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Glenn Close) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek).

It stars Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, JoBeth Williams and Don Galloway.

Kevin Kline in The Big Chill (1983).

The whole ensemble cast delivers the screenplay’s witty lines with consummate skill and warmth, and there is a great Sixties soundtrack too.

The dead buddy was played by Kevin Costner, but his part was entirely cut out in the release version. Kasdan made it up to Costner by casting him in Silverado (1985).

The Big Chill is directed by Lawrence Kasdan, runs 103 minutes, is made by Carson Productions, Columbia Pictures Corporation and Delphi Films, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek, is shot in Metrocolor by John Bailey, is produced by Michael Shamberg, and is designed by Ida Random.

Kasdan admired The Great Santini (1979) and decided to shoot his film in the same location of the antebellum home in Beaufort, South Carolina.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7659

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Jeff Goldblum in The Big Chill (1983).