#807) The Big Chill (1983)

#807) The Big Chill (1983)

OR “Grief Is the Word”

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan

Written by Kasdan and Barbara Benedek

Class of 2025

The Plot: 15 years after their college activist days, seven friends reunite for a weekend in South Carolina following the suicide of their colleague Alex. Sarah and Harold Cooper (Glenn Close and Kevin Kline) serve as hosts, the only two of the friend group to marry each other, though Sarah still feels guilty about her affair with Alex years earlier. Karen Bowens (JoBeth Williams) is unhappy with her somewhat square husband Richard (Don Galloway) and no-so-secretly pines for Sam Weber (Tom Berenger), who’s now a famous TV star. Meg Jones (Mary Kay Place) is determined to have a baby but can’t decide which of her male friends should be the father. Michael Gold (Jeff Goldblum) is trying to pursue Alex’s girlfriend Chloe (Meg Tilly), who is more attracted to Nick Carlton (William Hurt), a Vietnam vet and drug addict. It’s a long weekend as these Baby Boomers come to terms with what their lives have become…wait, this all sounds very familiar…

Why It Matters: The NFR praises the film’s ensemble, as well as its “humor, tenderness, honesty, and an iconic soundtrack”.

But Does It Really?: I’m okay with “The Big Chill” being on the NFR, but just okay. The film is iconic enough and well-remembered and beloved by Boomers, but a modern day viewing is just…fine. As much as I love everyone in this ensemble, I ultimately didn’t care about these characters. Making matters worse is fellow NFR entry “Return of the Secaucus Seven”, a movie that covers much of the same ground as “Big Chill”does, but three years earlier. We’ll get to the comparisons later on, but long story short: “Big Chill” earns its NFR standing on its reputation for its ensemble and its soundtrack, and while that’s more than enough to warrant NFR induction, that’s about as generous as I’m feeling right now.

Shout Outs: When Harold runs up to the attic to fight off a bat, he sings the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” theme. Nice touch, Lawrence.

Everybody Gets One: Barbara Benedek began her career as a sitcom writer before teaming up with Lawrence Kasdan to write “The Big Chill”. Benedek’s post – “Chill” screenwriting resume includes uncredited rewrites on “Pretty Woman” and the screenplay for the 1995 “Sabrina” remake. “The Big Chill” is also the NFR debut for a surprising number of its actors, including Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, and JoBeth Williams.

Title Track: Kasdan described the “big chill” as the departure from the warmth of youthful idealism towards the coldness of a more cynical adulthood. Although no one in the movie says the phrase “big chill”, this sentiment is discussed in so many words.

Seriously, Oscars?: “The Big Chill” received three major Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Original Screenplay, and Supporting Actress for Glenn Close. Unfortunately, “Chill” was left out cold, losing to, respectively, “Terms of Endearment”, “Tender Mercies”, and Linda Hunt in “The Year of Living Dangerously”. Coincidently, the 1984 Oscars were hosted by Johnny Carson, whose production company Carson Productions Group Ltd. produced “The Big Chill” as their first feature.

Other notes

Let’s get the “Secaucus Seven” comparisons out of the way. While “Big Chill” is based on Lawrence Kasdan’s time at the University of Michigan, the movie is not without its similarities to “Secaucus”, also about a group of college friends reuniting years later and reassessing their beliefs and life choices. Having now seen both films, I feel like Pam in that “Office” meme: “They’re the same movie.” There is some pretty noticeable overlap between “Big Chill” and “Secaucus”, with a few differences preventing one from being a carbon copy of the other (to start with, the budget for “Big Chill” was literally 100 times more than “Secaucus”). The biggest difference is the thematic grief that permeates “Big Chill”, making it a seemingly more serious film than the more lighthearted reunion of “Secaucus”. While I was originally under the impression Kasdan was unfamiliar with “Secaucus” while working on “Big Chill”, it turns out he was; he and Benedek didn’t start writing the screenplay until five months after “Secaucus” was released (though Kasdan claims he had conceived the story years earlier). To “Secaucus” director John Sayles’ credit, he seems to hold no grudges against Kasdan, and is quick to point out the differences between the two movies.

On a related note, I bet the “Secaucus” gang could beat up the “Big Chill” gang in a rumble. They just seem like they fight dirtier.
How much of this movie’s budget went to the music? Seriously, this movie is wall-to-wall hits. They even got the Stones! Given how much of a downer the subject matter is, you need the uplifting soul of the early ‘60s to keep things moving.

If this movie were made today, this friend group would have all gone to college in the early 2010s and the film’s soundtrack would consist of Rihanna, Adele, Bruno Mars, and Lady Gaga. Oh Time, why are you so mean?
Everyone’s favorite bit of casting trivia: Alex’s body being prepped for the funeral is all that remains of a performance by a young, unknown Kevin Costner. We’ll get into what happened to his other scenes later on.
This movie has a great ensemble (almost all of them on the brink of greater fame), I just wish they got more to do than sit around and talk. This all being said, if you’re going to nominate one of these actors for an Oscar, Glenn Close is the right choice. I wouldn’t call Sarah the beating heart of the story, but she does quietly hold the movie together with her warmth. It’s crazy to think we’re only four years away from her stalking Michael Douglas and cooking a rabbit. Hey when is that making the NFR?
A few questions about Kevin Kline/Harold: Is he doing a South Carolinian accent or a watered-down Michigan accent? And when did he buy Forrest Gump’s house? And for the love of God will someone please get him a bigger pair of shorts?
Shoutout to Jeff Goldblum; “Big Chill” came out the same year as “The Right Stuff”, another Best Picture nominee and future NFR entry featuring Goldblum. This film shows us the very beginnings of what an unrestrained Jeff Goldblum performance could look like. Be afraid, be very afraid.

The problem with trying to talk about this movie is that there aren’t really scenes, just conversations. When I think back on “Big Chill”, it’s people sitting in chairs talking about life and stuff (and who within the friend group they’re trying to nail). I think that’s why people recall the soundtrack with such fondness, and why the “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” scene is the best remembered moment in the movie. Halfway through the proceedings, “Ain’t Too Proud” revives the sagging energy and allows our characters the freedom to finally cut loose after all their grieving. It’s a fun moment, I just wish it lasted longer.

Let’s see, who haven’t I mentioned yet? Mary Kay Place is good, though admittedly she gets the weirdest subplot. I enjoyed JoBeth Williams, as well as her frequent scene partner Tom Berenger as a Tom Selleck-type (I guess any Tom will do. Thank you!) I even liked Karen’s boring husband, as appropriately bland as the mayo sandwich he’s eating. William Hurt’s character had a bit too much going on to do it all justice, but Hurt’s clearly relishing the challenge. Side note: Nick was written specifically for Hurt, having starred in Kasdan’s directorial debut “Body Heat” two years earlier. Meg Tilly does decent work as the group outlier, but doesn’t get much to do other than look cute and be creepily hit on by Goldblum’s character. Don’t worry Meg, the religious theatrics of “Agnes of God” aren’t too far away.

Shoutout to “It Came from Beneath the Sea”, the ‘50s monster movie the gang watches on TV at one point. I used to work by those piers being destroyed by that octopus.
If the film’s ending seems abrupt, that’s because it wasn’t the original ending. The initial plan was to end with a flashback to 1968 with everyone in college, including Kevin Costner as Alex. Ultimately, it was decided that after spending the whole movie talking about Alex, no performance could live up to audience expectations of the character, and the scene was understandably (and rightfully) cut.

Legacy

“The Big Chill” was released in September 1983, and was one of the big hits of the year, grossing $56 million on an $8 million budget. The accompanying soundtrack was also a hit, going certified Gold in less than three months and certified Double Platinum within two years of the film’s release.
Lawrence Kasdan’s next film was 1985’s “Silverado”, in which he cast Kevin Costner as an apology for cutting him out of “Big Chill”. “Silverado” ended up being a breakout performance for Costner, so technically we can draw a direct line from “Big Chill” all the way to “Yellowstone” and those “Horizon” movies Costner’s trying to make.

Listen to This: Three of the songs from this film’s iconic soundtrack are featured in the National Recording Registry: “My Girl” by The Temptations, “Tracks of My Tears” by The Miracles, and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys. “Big Chill” artists Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Steve Miller Band, The Rolling Stones, and The Band are represented on the NRR with other songs.