16 April- "They throw a great party for you on the one day they know you can't come"

The Big Chill (1983)

dir. Lawrence Kasdan (French Kiss, 1995)

starring

Tom Berenger (Born on the Fourth of July, 1982)

Glenn Close (Air Force One, 1997)

Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, 1993)

William Hurt (Tuck Everlasting, 2002)

Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda, 1988)

Mary Kay Place (Being John Malkovitch, 1999)

JoBeth Williams (Jungle 2 Jungle, 1997)

My mom picked this out at the Borders when she came to visit me. She said she doesn't like "funny" movies, and can I say, she really hit the nail on the head. More than anything this reminds me of a poor man's St. Elmo's Fire (1985), which is odd because you can see it predates that fine film by two years.

Just like in The First Wives Club (1996), this movie begins with a group of estranged college friends being reunited at a funeral. They proceed to hang out for a weekend, hashing out issues of sexual tension and lost idealism.

Mostly angsty with several attempts at comic relief, some of which are successful. Jeff Goldblum is the funniest by far, and Kevin Kline does okay. The ditzy girlfriend of the deceased is also good for some laughs, she also seems to be the most contented of the group, pointing out, "I don't like to talk about my past as much as you all do."