The Big Chill    

By Tom Keogh

Lawrence Kasdan's 1983 big-budget variation on John Sayles's The Return of the Secaucus Seven finds a cluster of old college radicals--who have since gone on to sundry professions and various degrees of materialism--reuniting over the death of a friend. Both playful and thoughtful, the film represents Kasdan (Body Heat) at his most astute. The attractive cast meshes perfectly into a group of characters for which a former closeness is out of synch with their current lives, yet their warmth is enviable and inviting. The script may be a bit too glib, with many one-liners, but it is still a perfectly designed story with telling irony and no little passion.

Academy Awards

The Big Chill received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture (Michael Shamberg - Producer), Supporting Actress (Glenn Close), and Writing (Best Screenplay written directly for the screen; Lawrence Kasdan, Barbara Benedek).

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