Review of The Last Picture Show (1971) by Jim H — 27 Nov 2010

"He was sweeping you sons of bitches!".

If the people of small town Texas are really having this much sex, then I'm hanging out in all the wrong places. And I'm going to show this to any student who tells me that teenage, premarital sex is a new problem; this movie takes place in the 1950s and was made in 1971.

This is a truly masterful film in every way. From the first frame to the last, I thought, "This is how it's done. This is how exposition is done. This is how sex scenes are done tastefully and artistically. This is how character development is done. This is acting.".

The first shot is a slow fade in, and we see a desolate, dusty town in a slight low angle. Immediately, we understand the mood of the place: it is a town where life has stopped. There are no clocks in the first shot; who needs them? For the rest of the film, we remember the low angle. The film keeps looking up to these characters, even as they deserve it less and less.

Within the first fifteen minutes, everything is established. We know the precocious town flirt, flawlessly played by Cybill Shepherd in her first film role. We know the sagacious heart and conscience of the film, Sam the Lion, who dispenses criticisms about football and the boys' mistreatment of the town mute with the same hopeless passion. We know that this film is going to be about sexual exploration, as the two male protagonists, Duane and Sonny, move the back of the only movie theater with their girlfriends.

And why does the film look up to these characters? Because in a town like this - in a town in which they cannot stay and from which they cannot leave - the only real act left to them is to break as many rules as they can. And the film follows their paths from broken, worthless innocence to plain old broken worthlessness and perhaps to some weak redemption.

I also have to compliment the accuracy of its depictions of Texas. Everything is here: the "y'alls," the over-whelming state pride, the love-hate relationship with the rest of the U.S. in general and nearby cities in particular.

Overall, this is one of the best films I've seen recently.