Review of The Last Picture Show (1971) by Andy G — 09 Sep 2013

American Graffiti kind of sucks compared to what I just saw.

Every now and then a movie I expect to be pretty good isn't just pretty good- it's astounding. Twelve Angry Men and The Wedding Crashers are the most recent two that come to mind. Now I can add The Last Picture Show to that list. All the music was diegetic, either through a radio or live band, adding a realism to the film. Not only that, but supposedly Hank Williams & company's songs reflected on the thoughts and personalities of the characters. I didn't pay close enough attention to it the first time to notice this; the next time I will. The acting of every cast member involved was superb; I'd pick one actor if they stuck out more than the others, but in this case everyone was great (I will say that it was awesome seeing Cloris Leachman in a serious, non Mel Brooks movie; she is an exceptional actress). Just like the cast and town itself, the choice to shoot in black and white works so well with this movie that viewers couldn't imagine it any way else. It's no wonder that so many actors became Hollywood players, what with all the face time each of them received. What's beautiful is that face time was within the context of the movie, with zoom-in/outs and long, lingering shots employed to tell the audience something about each character, whether it be backstory, what they're thinking/feeling, etc. It really is an ensemble effort, though, and the fact that cast and crew could take a sparse-looking, two-dimensional town and transform it and its inhabitants into something that feels deep to the core speaks volumes about their abilities. Which brings me to the story. It's not a "nothing is what it seems" story. In fact it's quite the opposite, a "everything is what it seems" tale of a boring Texas town. There are boring people who like it just fine, and bored people who want more for their lives, a contrast that made for compelling conflict throughout despite the story never leaving the town. There's no need to take sides; every single character is sympathetic in their own way. The story also perfectly captured sex (sexual coming-of-age, sexual longing) better than any other movie I've seen; the shy, awkward eagerness of the situation and the different paths that result from it. Sex for the sake of sex in the deadbeat town juxtaposed with sex as a byproduct of loneliness... I can't describe it coherently, but it played brilliantly on screen.

This will probably join the ranks of my all-time favorite movie list. Sometimes movies are terrible, sometimes they're pretty good, and sometimes things just "click." With The Last Picture Show, something definitely clicked.

"Shoot us, probably.".