Reagan is President. The word “hippie” is used with past tense verbs. Yuppies and the “Me-Generation” are rearing their greedy heads. It’s the 1980s. Where have all the flowers gone? Baby boomers are facing a thirty-something crisis. It’s a new movie genre. Not a “coming-of-age” story, but a “coming-to-terms” story.

“In a cold world you need your friends to keep you warm” is the tag line for the ensemble soap opera of boomer refugees at the funeral of an old college buddy who committed suicide. All have morphed from youthful baby boomer idealism to lives of alienation and angst.

One began as a radical journalist and now writes fluff for People Magazine. A playboy is impotent. Another endures an unhappy marriage to an affluent, conservative lawyer. A successful woman wants a kid but not a husband. The sound track blares “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” All fear that the depression which led their charismatic, fun-loving friend to take his life will afflict them.

At the end, Glen Close, nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the 1983 movie, asks the singles when they’re going. “We’re not gonna leave,” Jeff Goldblum declares. “We’ll never leave.”

The Big Chill might have seemed a bit self-indulgent and glib but struck a chord with a boomer generation in retreat. It held the #1 box office spot for a two weeks and inspired the hit television show Thirty-Something. Movie critic Roger Ebert noted: “The characters have all the right clothes, expressions, fears, lusts and ambitions. But there’s no payoff and it doesn’t lead anywhere. I thought at first that was a weakness of the movie. There also is the possibility that it’s the movie’s message.”

Trivia Factoids

The dead friend was a young Kevin Costner who appears in a casket without a head shot. Other of his scenes end up on the cutting room floor. Not to despair. Director Lawrence Kasdan promised the hot prospect a good role in his next movie, Silverado. It launched Costner’s career.

Quote from The Big Chill: “They’re either married or gay. And if they’re not gay, they’ve just broken up with the most wonderful woman in the world, or they’ve just broken up with a bitch who looks exactly like me. They’re in transition from a monogamous relationship and they need more space. Or they’re tired of space, but they just can’t commit. Or they want to commit, but they’re afraid to get close. They want to get close, you don’t want to get near them. “

Baby Boomer Trivia Questions

►MATCH GAME: Connect the phrase to the television show

This is it. This is life, the one you get.
Let’s be careful out there.
Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes.
I don’t care what you say, this is my life.
Kicking myself for nothing was my favorite sport.

MASH, Alice, One Day at a Time, NYPD, Bosom Buddies.

►One of these young baby boomers was not cast in The Big Chill

Tom Berenger
Debra Winger
Kevin Kline
Meg Tilly

►What celebrity, who revived his career recently with a Best Actor nomination, turned down a role in The Big Chill?

Answers at end of post

BOOMERS BY THE NUMBERS

1983

Price of a movie ticket: $3.15

Average price of a car to drive to the movie: $8500

Price of gas to fuel your car: $1.25 a gallon

Median yearly income: $21,000

ANSWERS TO BOOMER TRIVIA QUESTIONS

►BOOMER MATCH GAME: Match the phrase to the television show

This is it. This is life, the one you get. → One Day at a Time
Let’s be careful out there. → NYPD
Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes. → MASH
I don’t care what you say, this is my life. → Bosom Buddies
Kicking myself for nothing was my favorite sport. → Alice

►Debra Winger was not in The Big Chill but she had a good year, nominated as Best Actress for Terms of Endearment.

►Mickey Rourke declined an offer by The Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan for a lead role. Rourke was nominated as Best Actor in 2008 for The Wrestler.

Related Post: Click on→ Baby Boomer Booster