The Last Picture Show
Reviews
Wuchak
***Bleak, trashy B&W drama of life in a fading Texas town in the early 50s with several strong points*** Released in 1971, “The Last Picture Show” is a B&W drama of several teens and adults in a dying Texas town on the windy plains in 1951. Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd play the main high shoolers while Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman and Ellen Burstyn appear as the adults. Randy Quaid and Clu Gulager have peripheral roles. Sam the Lion (Johnson) is the minor mogul of the town, the father figure of several of the boys, who are fatherless in practice, if not reality. Despite wallowing in a dreary pall (which ties-in to the theme), the movie conveys many insights about real life and has some genuine warmth. A couple good examples are when Sam looks at Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Bridges) before they leave for a wild weekend in Mexico or the final scene between Sonny and the coach’s wife (Leachman); Sam’s reflections at “the tank” is another. Furthermore, I respect a movie that has the confidence to take its time without feeling the need to rush to the thrills and titillations. “The Last Picture Show” is slightly infamous for its sleaze quotient, but it’s interesting what little sex actually goes on in the story; and the quality of some of that sex is dubious, e.g. Duane (Bridges) and Jacy (Cybill). As far as the nude pool party in Wichita Falls goes, it seems that these kids were older than Jacy, except for the little brother swimming in the pool and Lester (Quaid). I'm assuming they were college age; in other words, about 1-4 years older. Regardless, they were the offspring of rich libertines from the Big Oil business in Wichita Falls. Jacy was a rich girl from backwater Nowheresville and wanted to fit in with these bigger city kids. Regarding the realism of the nude swimming, the story takes place in 1951; a mere 18 years later teens were publicly skinny dipping in Woodstock, NY, which is documented in the film of the same name. Do we seriously think a few teens weren't doing the same thing a mere 18 years earlier? For comparison, it's 2018 as of this writing. Do we really think teens today are all that different than teens 18 years ago in 2000? Besides, teens on the wild side were skinny dipping in the 1800s, 1700s, 1600s, etc. At the end of the day, this is a decent adult-oriented drama about the kinetic experimentations & aspirations of youths in the early 50s juxtaposed with the sometimes sad reflections & practices of the adults. The film runs 1 hour, 58 minutes and was shot in Archer City, Texas, as well as nearby Olney, Holliday and Wichita Falls. GRADE: B
Peter McGinn
I must have watched this movie a few years after it came out, but I had no specific memory of it, no feeling of deja vu of having seen a scene before. It is a good film in many ways, certainly achieving its apparent goal of portraying a bleak landscape of a dying town. The dialogue, which I notice since I write novels that feature a lot of dialogue, is excellent, just what you expect from Larry McMurtry. The acting is solid, though a little dreamy and perhaps overdone in places. I like how the camera focuses on faces at times even when nothing is being said. Because there are so many young men and women characters, there is a lot of sex and obsession about sex. That is the intended audience, I imagine, the young and young at heart. I liked the imagery I saw in the life blood of a town symbolically blowing away gradually in the ever-present wind. For that reason I wish there had been a tad less sex and more of a focus on the social aspects of a town fading away, taking the dreams of the young with it. But I suppose that would be a different film aimed at a different audience.
CinemaSerf
"Sonny" (Timothy Bottoms) and "Duane" (Jeff Bridges) are best pals in a remote Texan town that offers them little by way of prospects. They both vie for the love interest of "Jacy" (Cybill Shepherd) although she is supposed to be dating "Duane". She comes from the family that passes for wealth in "Anarene" and her mother (Ellen Burstyn) has essentially told her to keep her options open and see which, from an extremely limited gene pool, might offer her the best prospects. For most of their lives, "Sam" (Ben Johnson), himself a symbol of a bygone era, was a sort of father figure and his death leaves them in charge of the town's entertainment - a dilapidated bar/pool hall/cinema that's just about as run down as the town itself. Do they stay and run it together? Will one or both decide that the future lies elsewhere? With their graduation and the draft looming, their collective hormones racing and rivalries becoming rife, the whole town starts to feel the strains of their predicament. I kept expecting Marlon Brando to appear here as the monochrome photography and the 1950s style of the production deliver quite a potent coming-of-age drama that's distinctly lacking in sentiment. It's also one of the first examples I recall of nudity occurring freely in an American-made film. Sometime that is overtly sexual, but it also features more naturally too as they come to terms with their own bodies and discover some stimulating peccadilloes along the way. Bottoms and Bridges rather effectively epitomise the hopelessness of life in these dead-end towns and Larry McMurty's screenplay offers us some honest and pithy dialogue to contextualise the behaviour that we can readily see amidst a community that is bursting at the seam for something, anything, out of the ordinary to finally happen. In the end, though, the plaudits have to go to Shepherd whose character treads a fine line between curious and manipulative as well as coming to terms with her own sexuality and whom she portrays really quite plausibly. I didn't love the denouement, it felt a little unnecessary to me but as an illustration of life for some many young, horny and exasperated this is a really good watch.
Movie Recommendation
Targets1968-08-13An aging horror-movie icon's fate intersects with that of a seemingly ordinary young man on a psychotic shooting spree around Los Angeles.More...
Creator1985-09-20With the help of student assistant Boris and stolen university equipment, Dr. Harry Wolper plans to clone his dead wife. But then he meets Meli, an egg donor for his experiment, and they fall in love. Faced with choosing between his deceased wife and Meli, Dr. Wolper sees his situation in a new light when Boris' own new love, Barbara, falls into a coma. Meanwhile, another professor tries shutting down the cloning project.More...
The Employee1960-01-20Nando is dissatisfied with his repetitive and mortifying work. He manages to escape from daily mediocrity only at night, when he enters his fantasy world.More...
Patince Episode 3 The Love Episode2014-02-14Patience crew headed by Medi Mike go speed dating at a 420 dating event.More...
Hannah Takes the Stairs2007-08-22Hannah is a recent college graduate interning at a Chicago production company. She is crushing on two writers at work, Matt and Paul, who share an office and keep her entertained. Will a relationship with one of them disrupt the delicate balance of their friendship?More...
The Heartbreak Kid1972-12-17Three days into his Miami honeymoon with needy and unsophisticated Lila, Lenny meets tall, blonde Kelly. This confirms his fear that he has made a serious mistake and he decides he wants to be with Kelly instead.More...
Pavarotti2019-06-04Featuring never-before-seen footage, concert performances and intimate interviews, filmmaker Ron Howard examines the life and career of famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti.More...
Pasha1968-03-14Six months before his retirement from the criminal police, inspector Joss finds his colleague Gouvion dead, in a poorly faked suicide attempt. Joss loses his temper, and investigates on his own, which leads him through the bas-fond of Paris...More...
McCabe & Mrs. Miller1971-06-24A gambler and a prostitute become thriving business partners in a remote Old West mining town until a large corporation arrives on the scene.More...
The Go-Between1971-06-16British teenager Leo Colston spends a summer in the countryside, where he develops a crush on the beautiful young aristocrat Marian. Eager to impress her, Leo becomes the "go-between" for Marian, delivering secret romantic letters to Ted Burgess, a handsome neighboring farmer.More...
Fedora1978-06-29Down-on-his-luck Hollywood producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler attempts to lure Fedora, a famous but reclusive film actress, out of retirement, only to discover the horrifying truth behind her success.More...
Cuba and the Cameraman2017-09-08This revealing portrait of Cuba follows the lives of Fidel Castro and three Cuban families affected by his policies over the last four decades.More...
Darkness, Light, Darkness1989-01-01A human body gradually reconstructs itself as its various component parts crowd themselves into a small room and eventually, after much experimentation, sort out which part goes where.More...
Corporate2017-04-05Emilie is a bright young workaholic manager in Human Resources, working for a huge French agro-food company. But, one day, one of the employees commits suicide at the company in front of her. While an investigation is underway, stuck between her traumatized colleagues and under pressure of a powerful hierarchy, she will have to get by on her own.More...
Jakob's Wife2021-04-16After a chance encounter with "The Master", Anne discovers bite marks on her neck, a new sense of power, and an appetite to live bigger and bolder than ever.More...
The Phantom of the Open2022-03-18Maurice Flitcroft, a dreamer and unrelenting optimist, managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship qualifying in 1976 and subsequently shot the worst round in Open history, becoming a folk hero in the process.More...
The Haunted Palace1963-08-28A warlock burned at the stake comes back and takes over the body of his great grandson to take his revenge on the descendents of the villages that burned him.More...
The Chaos Class1975-04-01Lazy, uneducated students mostly coming from money, share a very close band. They live together in the dormitory of this private highschool, where they daily plan their latest pranks on teachers or the other classes. When a new and obviously strict headmaster arrives, the students naturally try to overthrow him. A comic war of nitwits follows.More...
The Caine Mutiny1954-06-24When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardize his ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.More...
Carmen2023-04-21A young and fiercely independent woman, Carmen, is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother. She survives an illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard. When the border guard and his patrol partner Aidan become embroiled in a deadly standoff, the pair is forced to escape together.More...
Similar Movies
The Old Curiosity Sho...
2007-12-26A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.Swedish Beauty
2000-11-03The arrival of a beautiful new stranger in town prompts two boys to spend their summer holidays enticing the young woman to act in a short-film. However their motivation is purely that of seeing her naked.Arrogance and Virtue
2024-09-27The story centers on Kakeru Nishizawa and Mami Sakaniwa, two people who find each other through a dating app, and decide soon after to get engaged. After their engagement, Mami suddenly disappears. In trying to find her, Kakeru must confront a side of Mami's past that he might not have wanted to know.The Village of Mist
1983-02-12A young South Korean woman moves to an isolated mountain village, where all of the villagers are related except for a mysterious vagabond, to take up her first teaching post.Sleeping Dogs
1977-10-06Recluse Smith is drawn into a revolutionary struggle between guerrillas and right-wingers in New Zealand. Implicated in a murder and framed as a revolutionary conspirator, Smith tries to maintain an attitude of non-violence while caught between warring factions.Night on the Galactic...
1985-07-13Giovanni currently lives a dreary life of near non-stop work. At school, his peers ridicule him incessantly, and his employer at work is distant and cold. As his isolation from society becomes unbearable, he suddenly finds himself on a train heading far away from his miserable home. Accompanied by Campanella, an acquaintance from school, Giovanni embarks on a journey that will define the rest of his life.Boy on a Dolphin
1957-04-19Phaedra is a poor sponge diver on the lovely Greek isle of Hydra. While diving, she discovers an ancient brass and gold statue of a boy riding a dolphin, which is said to have the magical power to grant wishes. Her shiftless boyfriend wants to sell it to an unscrupulous art collector, but Phaedra wants to give it to anthropologist Jim Calder, who would return it to the Greek government.Valmont
1989-11-17Set in Baroque France, a scheming widow and her lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman. The lover, Valmont, bets that he can seduce her, even though she is an honorable woman. If he wins, he can have his lover to do as he will. However, in the process of seducing the married woman, Valmont falls in love.The Cheetah Girls 2
2006-07-31Best friends Galleria, Chanel, Dorinda, and Aqua, A.K.A. the girl band "The Cheetahs," get the opportunity of a lifetime when they strut their way to Barcelona, Spain, to perform in an international music festival. Along the way, the "amigas Cheetahs" learn that, although their paths are not the same, they are lucky to have one another for the journey.Recall
2018-06-15A woman was killed by a truck wheel, which flew off while the vehicle was in motion. As the freight company which owns the truck becomes the target of the public and the media’s wrath, Tokuro Akamatsu, the president of the freight company, realizes that a structural defect within the truck itself may have been to blame. A conspiracy of the wheel manufacturer's attempts to cover up a defective product is uncovered.The Killer Inside Me
2010-02-19Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small west Texas town, patient and apparently thoughtful. Some people think he is a little slow and maybe boring, but that is the worst they say about him. But then nobody knows about what Lou calls his "sickness": He is a brilliant, but disturbed sociopathic sadist.Devil's Diary
2007-09-22When a group of small-town teenagers find the “Devil's Diary,” a book that embodies the evil of Satan by physically manifesting any evil thought that is written in it, all hell breaks loose. Unearthed after centuries of concealment, the Devil's Diary wreaks havoc and destruction on the high school students who found it, and their entire community. Can their town be saved from complete ruin?20-Year-Old Soul
2022-05-27A young music lover named Asano Daiyoshi died at the young age of 20. In that fact, there is a feeling that a miracle that cannot be imagined overflows the bonds of many people. Feel the brilliance of life that you can live powerfully even if it is short. It's a movie that everyone can sympathize with and give courage to tomorrow.La espera
2021-10-27Yazmín and Zenaida, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, live awaiting the arrival of their husbands. Time that will reveal infinite possibilities.Madonna of the Street...
1924-10-19Rev. John Morton, who is determined to follow as closely as possible the teachings of Jesus, inherits a considerable fortune when his uncle dies. Shortly thereafter he succumbs to the wiles of Mary Carlson and marries her. To Mary's dismay, John uses his money for charitable work. When John learns that not only has Mary been unfaithful to him but she was also his uncle's mistress and became Mrs. Morton in order to share the inheritance she believed to be rightfully hers, he sends her away with his secretary.22 Bullets
2010-03-23A retired mobster goes on a revenge spree after being left for dead with 22 bullets in his body by his former childhood friend.Icon
2005-01-01A former US Operative, who lived in Russia in his earlier years and had been married there with a child, comes out of retirement to face down a former enemy, now running as a candidate for President in modern Russia. Working with a Russian policewoman, they work to uncover a plot to use biological weapons against certain factions of the Russian people to commit genocide. The virus would also be released in other populations, but would be treated making the candidate a hero. A side plot has the agent being reunited with his long lost daughter.Waking the Dead
2000-03-24A congressional candidate questions his sanity after seeing the love of his life, presumed dead, suddenly emerge.Take Out
2008-06-06An illegal Chinese immigrant falls behind on payments on an enormous smuggling debt. Ming Ding has only until the end of the day to come up with the money.Pork Chop Hill
1959-05-29Korean War, April 1953. Lieutenant Clemons, leader of the King company of the United States Infantry, is ordered to recapture Pork Chop Hill, occupied by a powerful Chinese Army force, while, just seventy miles away, at nearby the village of Panmunjom, a tense cease-fire conference is celebrated.