tavm After about 30 years of reading and hearing of this film, I finally watched this directorial debut of John Sayles on DVD that I borrowed from a local library. A reunion of several college buddies from something they were arrested for when they were demonstrating on some issue, we witness how some are broken up, some are trying to make something of themselves, and some are now settling with a family. Sayles' dialogue makes many pertinent points of life and how things don't always go in directions that satisfy our ideals or dreams though one keeps trying to enjoy things while they still can. There's also some fine humorous exchanges of whatever they're going through that abound. Nothing more to say except that I highly recommend Return of the Secaucus Seven. Oh, and I also recommend Sayles' commentary track I listened to afterwards.

Donal Fagan A few weekends ago, I watched Return of the Secaucus Seven again. I first watched it circa 1982, and enjoyed it so much that I brought a different girl to see it a few weeks later. Over the years I rented it on VHS for one girlfriend, and then another, to see. Several years ago I bought the DVD to show my wife, and I probably watch it about once a year. (I do miss that hamburger scene - what a shame!) The film concerns a weekend reunion of a handful of people that knew each other as young adults in the 1960s. Seems that IMDb reviewers can't resist comparing Sayles' small film to The Big Chill, a big budget film about a reunion of people that met in the 1960s. Both groups talk a lot, and share a lot, but they are actually very different films in almost every other way. The RS7 friends are still fairly young, not yet settled in life, not rich or famous, not at all generic types, and not played by familiar actors. I enjoyed Chill, but I have come to think of the characters in RS7 as old friends. I always look forward to seeing them again.

jrodman-1 The first time I saw this movie was at a John Sayles movie festival. He's so interesting that I always give his movies a look, even if I don't always find them without flaws. I had been hearing so much about this one that I was really looking forward to it. Well, I was so bored that I ended up sleeping through almost all of it. But it was on IFC the other night, and even though it was on at 3AM, I managed to stay awake through it all, and I can see its merits. It IS talky, like what happens when a stageplay hits the movies, but as I found out, it IS worth a second look. And I never did really like "The Big Chill"--there always seemed something phony about it.

mgraser-1 I went to a movie theater and saw "Return of the Secaucus Seven" in 1981. I was slightly younger than the characters in the movie but I could relate to their lives. When the Big Chill came out I thought it was a ripoff of Secaucus. In the Big Chill all of the characters have big time jobs - shoe manufacturer, doctor, actor, magazine writer, etc.. In Secaucus most of the characters haven't figured out what they want to do and crashing on the floor is a way of life rather than the expense account Big Chill graduates. The acting is awful. The plot is weak. It is a very rough film. But it has a sense of reality, humor, and place that most professional movies do not have. When I saw this again a few years ago on PBS it was not quite the film I fondly remembered. Perhaps I can no longer relate to post graduate blues or life without children and a mortgage. It is still an impressive low budget first film by John Sayles.