Thanks for sharing the clip, Montana Dave. I love this film too, as well as the "family." You've inspired me to revisit this one, as it's been many years since I've watched it. While I'm fairly certain you already know this, just in case you don't…the corpse being dressed for funeral was Kevin Costner. The rest of his role in this film hit the editing room floor.
Only one other film has characters (for me), that seem like 'Family'. This is the other one. Think back, September, 1983 - remember?
Great thread idea, Dave--a lot of the films, TV shows, novels, and comic books have the running theme of a "family by choice" that I have always been drawn to for reasons I'm sure some here understand. I never realized just how many of my favorite films and shows have that theme.
I haven't seen The Big Chill in many years but is this the movie where one of the friends bangs his friend so that she could have a baby while his wife is cooking and smiling about the whole thing in the other room with another of their friends?
I'm not sure if the Baby Boomers are as self absorbed, youth obsessed, or as socially liberal as they are portrayed in films such as this one or on TV ("Thirtysomething") but my own (Boomer) parents were nothing like these people (yes, "it's just a movie").
"I Heard it Through the Grapevine" is a magnificent song, both the Marvin Gaye original as well as CCR's cover.
I have to go along with Chris. I loved this movie. The impregnating a friend with her husband did seem far fetched, and I never understood the Meg Tilly character. Still, I loved the music and some of the themes. Not all boomers are like this portrayal, but places do resonate with certain truths about my generation. I thought the acting was superb, and I loved all of the songs used in this movie. It was an interesting revisit to my past as was the superb American Graffiti. Both movies were doses of nostalgia.
This is for Joan Hue, who I happen to know can dance as good as Glenn Close does in this scene in the kitchen. Whenever I hear this particular song now, I always envision putting the left-overs into the fridge.
