Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Hijinx sleeps on the couch when a group of ex-radicals reaching their 30s get together over a summer weekend.

John Sayles' first movie (I think), starring among others Eddie Cicotte and Ray Schalk (8 Men Out) is said to have inspired The Big Chill and the tv show 30something. It's not much to look at and kinda starts slow but ultimately satisfying. Thoughts?

[Vic Sage]

it IS Sayles' 1st film, and is a progenitor of the BIG CHILL baby-boom movies about middle-aged protagonists looking back ruefully at their own youthful idealism and wondering where it went and how they ultimately had to accommodate real life.

It is also the best of those films, despite it's ridiculously low budget, somewhat amateurish acting and rambling storytelling. Unlike BIG CHILL, this film doesn't posit that an entire generation completely sold out its values to make a buck. People became teachers and organizers, or whatever. Their lives became an extension of their values, not a cartoonish violation of them. A good soundrack doesn't cover up Kasdan's soulless apologia for going into the advertising business before striking it rich in Hollywood.

[RealityChuck]

Excellent film with a no-name cast (though David Straitharn and Gordon Clapp carved out careers). Sayles was always one of the best writers of the writer/directors and even in his first film, he keeps things interesting, with some fine characters.

BTW, the Schenectady magnet school for the arts is named for Sayles, since he grew up here.

[Edgy MD]

Is there a fully realized John Sayles movie? Folks praise virtually everything he does, but there's usually a "but" in there (though not for Chuck, above).

[Vic Sage]

i have no "buts" about either MATEWAN or PASSION FISH, and have huge affection for BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET and SECRET OF ROAN INISH. SECAUCUS 7 is good but limited, and BABY ITS YOU is ok but slight. EIGHT MEN OUT should have been better, LIANNA is near unwatchable, and LONE STAR is uninvolving and dull. i haven't been able to get through anything of his since.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Concur on Passion Fish and Matewan, and Roan Inish (I can see where people come from on Brother, but it always left me cold). Holy hell, do we disagree about Lone Star, though-- took a while to unspool, but it worked like hell for me (especially the casting of Chris Cooper and a young Matt McConaughey in the opposite roles you'd expect a studio to push 'em towards).

I never knew that bit about its supposed inspirational "kids," but I always thought "proto-Big Chill" after I first saw Secaucus 7-- less fully-realized, obviously, but much more wooly, interesting, and real-feeling. Watching it once post-nineties, though... I know it's his first and all, but it's pretty damn stagy, and the acting is a little more than a little distracting in spots. I think I liked it better in my memory, before said memory got refreshed.

[Vic Sage]

i should give LONE STAR another try, i suppose. Its well thought of... maybe i was tired. concur on SECAUCUS 7; i like it better in theory than in practice. I used to work for the movie studio distributing it, so i always had to make an argument for it to potential licensors, vis-a-vis BIG CHILL.

[Edgy MD]

I guess I just find that folks, including me, offer his films respect, but aren't riveted, or out there evangelizing for Sayles. Maybe this one could have been cut a little tighter. Maybe another could have been shot a little more artfully. Brother frumma always seems like a bad print to me, like the post-production wasn't there. And of course it was a spaceman movie with virtually no special effects.

I guess Roan Inish was his most professional film, and there are certainly worse sins than not coming across as particularly professional, but his Springsteen videos have certainly shown polish.

Out of curiosity, have any of his films ever been nominated for an Oscar, for anything? He's certainly got a voice.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

And that voice is what got the noms: screenplay nominations for Passion Fish and Lone Star, but no wins.

[RealityChuck]

Edgy DC wrote: Is there a fully realized John Sayles movie? Folks praise virtually everything he does, but there's usually a "but" in there (though not for Chuck, above).

For Sayles, Lone Star, The Secret of Roan Innish, and Men With Guns (his best) fit the criteria.

Silver City is his weakest. It's too political and strident, even for someone like me who disliked George W. Bush.

[Guest sharpie]

I would endorse SECAUCUS SEVEN; THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH; EIGHT MEN OUT; MATEWAN; PASSION FISH; LONE STAR; and MEN WITH GUNS.

HONEY DRIPPER; LIANNA; BABY, IT'S YOU all have their moments but not enough of them.

Didn't care for SILVER STATE or BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET