An aging radical’s suicide reunites seven of his college cohorts to mourn and reflect on the gap between their youthful idealism and their middle-aged conformity.

An ensemble film that owed it’s commercial and critical success in no small part to timing. Released in 1983, it captured the zeitgeist of the multitude of 60’s American radicals (authentic and faux) who were mellowing into middle aged, middle class conformity. [Children and mortgages are the death of the revolutionary spirit] The theme and sensibility of the movie was something millions could identify with.

>>>>Would Lawrence Kasdan have been given this opportunity without the successes he had garnered before? Probably not

Totally agree.? ?Kasdan was on a roll.? He had?writing credits on 4 commercial hits on his resume including “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

As far as? I can see, the plot, such as it is, is constellated by the collective desire of the group to share their grief, catch up on each other’s lives, and hang out for the weekend,.? That’s it.

Kasdan did inject two subplots driven by two characters with specific objective goals.? The Jeff Goldblum character wants to get the Kevin Kline and Tom Berenger characters — the ones with the most money — to invest in his New York night club.? ? The Mary Kay Place character, who has never married, wants one of the guys to stand stud so she can have a child.

The narrative neatly divides into two parts.? The? focus in the 1st half is on their remorse for their lost friend, and remorse for their lost ideals.? At the midpoint, the narrative shifts focus to the resolution of personal? and relationship issues, past and present.

Variable: about Nick?s character

It feels contrived to me to try to? use one particular character? around which to build an overarching plot line.? I think each character illustrates as facet of the theme Kasdan wanted to explore: the varying ways the rebels and radicals of? his generation? lost their idealism, were co-opted by the system.? Nick’s idealism and psychological health were victims of Vietnam .

And that’s the way an ensemble film should work:? each character and subplot should illustrate and serve one overarching? theme.? In “The Big Chill”? Alex’s death is so obviously a metaphor for the movie’s theme. (Every time a logline is posted featuring an ensemble cast, that’s the question I would like an answer to:? what is the overarching theme that unites all these characters?)?

This film is one of a kind, a beneficiary of good timing.? ?As Karel noted,? the script was green lighted because Kasdan? was already an established screenwriter, — a high successful one.? And the finished film was such a commercial success because it resonated with? the mood of baby boomers who were the primary target audience — and a huge one.? (And it resonated because of the memory-evoking, soundtrack.)