Review of The Last Picture Show (1971) by Rocknblues 8 — 29 Sep 2010

The Last Picture Show was a film I was eager to see. It has an excellent cast, and it's largely about an very intriguing time in American culture. It was only the second film directed by actor/director Peter Bogdanovich and it's obviously a tribute to directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks. The western ideals are largely passed through the Sam the Lion character (Ben Johnson).

Even though there are an assortment of characters the film mostly lives through Sam. Sam is the last of dying breed in regards to his straight up honesty and conservative ideals. He barks that he has seen trash all his life. And the town were presented is indeed filled with trash for someone with his view points. The dying town is filled with gossipers, adulterers, and bored teens looking for something wild to do in a "boring" town.

Cybill Shepherd makes her debut as the girl all the teens crave. Despite the fact that she basically wants attention from everyone and is clearly intent on teasing more than delivering the goods, she is completely hard to resist. Even the older wiser women in the town she how obviously irresistible she is. Largely she plays with the emotions of Duane Jackson who is the roughneck of the town.

*SPOILERS*.

Timothy Bottoms stars as Sonny Crawford. Crawford is basically the backbone of the teen group and it becomes clearer as the movie goes along that he will one day fill the void that becomes empty by the passing of the town reflective wise man Sam. He will stay in the lifeless town and one day tell the stories he experienced in his youth.

Keep in mind that the film is not so much about a time gone by. It's about the passing of a time gone by. We see very little of the times described by Sam. We only see these characters in their aging and more lifeless stage of life. Characters that largely are left to reflect on the memories of "better days". The title of the film it's self is reflective of the era that is passing.

It's a film that is works enough for a one time viewing, but it's fairly stagnant pretty much like the the town it's self. It's conversationally directed, and it's fairly on point with what it attempts to do. However, it just drags too much. The film clocks in at just over 2 hours, but it felt like a 3 hour movie. Truthfully, I was relating more to the teens than I was the older reflective characters and I find that unfortunate considering I would consider myself "old school" in a lot of ways. What drives this film seems to create both it's strong and weak points for me and for that the film leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth.