Lawrence Kasdan | pinartarhan.com

The Big Chill starring Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Jobeth Williams, Mary Kay Place, Tom Berenger, Meg Tilly, Jeff Goldblum. Image: s11.allstarpics.net

Harold, Sarah, Sam, Nick, Michael, Meg, Karen are old college friends who haven’t been able to keep in contact as they planned, apart from Harold (Kevin Kline) and Sarah (Glenn Close)- who married each other and started a family together.

These old friends reunite at a funeral- the other member of the old gang, Alex, has committed suicide. After the funeral, they spend the weekend at Harold and Sarah’s place and try to get over Alex’s death, times and identities lost and catch up.

Now their friendships are as “complicated” as the ones in Grey’s Anatomy or Dawson’s Creek– here’s what I mean:

– Nick (William Hurt) and Karen used to be an item but Karen (Jobeth Williams) and Sam (Tom Berenger) always had an eye for each other.

– Meg (Mary Kay Place) has a little history with Michael (Jeff Goldblum), who is busy chasing Chloe (Meg Tilly)- Alex’s young girlfriend who’s staying at the house as well. Chloe isn’t interested in Michael but she seems to be into Nick (William Hurt).

– Nick is Meg’s first choice as a sperm donor. Oh yes, it is the 80s, she is the modern working woman who is sick of dating and wants a kid from a friend. But of course Nick can’t help since he can’t function down there, a gift from Vietnam. And Sam already had a broken marriage and a daughter he barely sees so he may not exactly jump at the offer and Karen doesn’t love the idea either as she seems to want Sam for herself. Sam is into Karen too, but Karen has a husband and two kids.

– Oh and then there is Sarah, who seems more shaken up by Alex’s death. As Harold reveals to us, she had an affair with him but she and Harold got over it…

So here we have a 8 people with complicated friendships and pasts, a weekend fuelled with conflicted emotions, drugs, alcohol, fun, nostalgia, sadness, broken dreams, love and confrontations.

The movie is one of the earliest works for the most of the cast, most of who are considered to be the finest actors of Hollywood. It is worth noting that Glenn Close was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar and the movie also was also nominated for Best Film and Best Screenplay. The movie was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek and directed by Lawrence Kasdan.

The movie has its flaws and charms, just like the characters. There are things in the movie that almost every one can related to: How you can lose contact with your best friends when life gets in the way or how your life may not turn out the way you hoped it would. And I am guessing the actors’ generation will identify with the story even more.

However the characters- despite the identity issues- didn’t really feel real to me. And no matter how charming the actors are, the characters are just…off. I mean, if your best friend kills himself, would your immediate reaction would be to have a baby with one of his other friends and start making the baby right after the funeral? Not to mention their soap-opera type of histories. And what kind of prick hits on his recently dead friend’s girlfriend, who almost seems jovial at all times? And would you really be that upset if your best who killed himself was banging your wife behind your back? And then there is the lecturing attitude Harold gives Nick when a cop brings him over- about being a part of the community, respecting the cops and whatever while they were all high half the movie?

The verdict: I am not going to lie to you, I had fun watching this movie. It was nostalgic and I love the soundtrack. I like the actors and the director. Despite the reunion happens because of a suicide, the movie is more fun than emotional and sad. There are some great funny lines and scenes and it is hardly ever boring. But had the cast been different, I doubt I’d have watched it.

Overall, this is a decently-acted and entertaining film with nostalgic value. But it is well…fluff. A pretty and quality fluff. You will have fun watching it but if you don’t watch it, you won’t have missed out on a thing.

7.0 on IMDB. A 6 from me.

Fun facts About The Big Chill:

– Do you remember the last movie you saw with Tom Berenger? It is probably Inception where he plays the uncle to Cillian Murphy’s character. Out of all the cast members of The Big Chill, he is the one who bears no resemblance to his younger self.

– The little son of Harold and Sarah that appears in the beginning of the film is the real life son of director Lawrence Kasdan. His name is Jon Kasdan.

– Meg Tilly is an ex-girlfriend of Colin Firth and they have a son together.

– Lawrence Kasdan and Kevin Kline work together often. They also made French Kiss and Silverado together.0000

French Kiss starring Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline, Timothy Hutton, Jean Reno and Susan Anbeh. Image:farm4.static.flickr.com

American Kate (Meg Ryan) is living in Canada with her fiancé Charlie (Timothy Hutton). And as far as she is concerned, life is bliss: she is closer to Charlie’s parents than Charlie is, is about to be a Canadian citizen and she is finally able to afford the house of their dreams. Even though Charlie is a bit freaked, he seems happy and content enough…until he goes to Paris for a work event. Kate needs to stay in the country because of the immigration process and she is afraid to death of flying anyway…

However, one day she gets a phone call from Charlie that changes her life forever. He tells her that he has fallen in love with a French woman and is not coming back. Kate gets on the next plane. She just has to go to France and take Charlie back. She ends up sitting next to a French guy named Luc (Kevin Kline), who just provides a distraction for her to survive the flight. However, Luc really needs to get an item through the customs and uses Kate for it, without her knowing of course.

But it is not long before Luc loses Kate, Kate’s bags are stolen, the French police are after Luc- who is after Kate who tries to survive in Paris until she can persuade Charlie to come back…Of course many funny scenes, confusion and romantic feelings follow. Can Kate take Charlie back with Luc’s help? Or will she even want Charlie after spending all that time with Luc?

French Kiss is a really entertaining, funny and romantic film, mostly set in France. It co-stars Jean Reno as the friendly cop who owes Luc a favor and Charlie’s French goddess Juliette is played by Suzan Anbeh, an actress half-French and half-Iranian.

Admittedly, I hadn’t loved this film so much when I saw it years ago. But back then, I hadn’t been to France, met French guys, listened to many French accents, wasn’t a fan of the cast except Meg Ryan. But years later, after having done all that, and having followed the work of Timothy Hutton, Kevin Kline and Jean Reno, and well, having experience the French culture many times, I just had a blast with. I believe French Kiss to be a guy-friendly romcom. Yeah sure, you can make all the usual complaints: “I knew the ending from the get-go” (yeah, so did everybody else),” it was predictable”,” would have been more original if Luc ended up with Juliette….” . So? This might be a typical romantic comedy with some fun criminal aspects involved, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is spot on with so many jokes and it is just an overall charming and entertaining movie. Oh yes, Kate is pretty much the same gal Meg Ryan always plays but some actors do have a trademark: Sylvester has been cashing on all these years: Meg Ryan is the romcom princess and he uses the muscles. They don’t really make movies to shatter the earth, they make money and entertain by using money-making clichés.

Now, it is also fun to note that this is not the only movie where Timothy Hutton’s character wants to leave Meg Ryan’s for another woman- in 2009’s Serious Moonlight, he wants to leave their long-term marriage but suffers a totally unexpected faith. This is also not the only romcom where Meg Ryan goes by the name of Kate. She played Kate in Kate and Leopold, opposite Hugh Jackman.

You have got the clichés and the stereotypes but you also have a hilarious performance from Kevin Kline, Timothy Hutton as your scumbag, Jean Reno for an inspector and a lovely, natural Meg Ryan. And this is pretty much all I wanted from this 1995 “chick flick”, which happens to be written by a guy (Adam Brooks) and directed by another guy (Lawrence Kasdan). Just enjoy yourself. 6.1 on IMDB, 7/10 from me.