The Last Picture Show - Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film

Country: united_states

Year: 1971

Running time: 118

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067328/reference

Michael says: “Based on a novel by Larry McMurtry, and adapted by the author and director Peter Bogdanovich, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW is a sad, and nostalgic look at a dying Texas town in 1951. The film follows best friends, and high school students, Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges) as they grapple with coming-of-age, and looking toward their diverging futures in a town that’s going nowhere. Around them are the adults who have watched the town fade from its heyday, including bar/pool hall owner Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson), the town diner’s waitress, Genvieve (Eileen Brennan), the Coach’s wife, Ruth Popper (Chloris Leachman), with whom Sonny is having an affair, and Lois Farrow (Ellen Burstyn) wealthy, lonely, and mother of Jacy (Cybil Shepherd), popular and beautiful high school princess who is dating Duane. The high school kids drink and give Billy, Sonny’s developmentally disabled younger brother, a hard time, go to pool parties where they go skinny dipping, play pool, have sex, gamble, taking an occasional trip to Mexico when they get bored, and catch the latest flick playing at the cinema. The adults reminisce about better time, lost loves, and lost youth.

“The film is beautifully written and gorgeously shot in beautiful black & white, harkening back to a much more innocent time. The direction is handled with a light touch, which is much appreciated given the potential for melodrama. It’s the performances, however, that really lift this film into classic territory. Bottoms, Bridges, and Shepherd capture their respective youthful restlessness perfectly, but it’s the adults that make the major impression. Ben Johnson, known for roles in a lot of westerns, does have that sense of an aging cowboy, dispensing wisdom to the next generation in the form of nostalgic tales, is terrific. And the trio of actresses, Leachman, Brennan and Burstyn, are so sublime and convey all the emotions running rampant through the film, disillusionment, frustration, longing, wisdom, care, and so much more in ways that are both elevating and tragic. It’s so exquisitely done in nearly every way, I am very hesitant to visit TEXASVILLE, the sequel that takes place in the early 80’s. Perhaps I will leave it alone for a while to savor in the perfection of THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. 5 cats“

The Last Picture Show

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