Review of The Last Picture Show (1971) by Daniel T — 07 Feb 2010

"He was sweeping, you sons of bitches! He was sweeping!".

In 1950s Anarene, Texas, there is a young boy who spends much of his time sweeping the dirt-laden streets of his run-down town. Nothing seems right anymore in Anarene. The town movie theater is shutting down, nobody can find happiness, and the idea of parents as role models is a thing of the past. The movie theater was one of the only good things the city had. It was the last thing left in the town that hadn't been in some way corrupted by waves of change, the only thing able to stand up to its debilitating effects. Most of the town's dwellers have given up on trying to fight what is happening to their town, but there are still some, like the young boy sweeping the streets, who is doing everything in his power to divert the city from complete desolation.

"The Last Picture Show" sports some of the best directing I have seen in recent memory. Although the film is a period piece, it seems almost timeless. The entire film is filmed in black and white, with the only music coming from jukeboxes or car radios. The city of Anarene is a character with its own personality. It is a run-down, weary city that looks like it is about to collapse on itself. Over the course of the 118-minute movie, the citizens of the deteriorating town slowly begin to resemble the town.

The plot of "The Last Picture Show" is your typical coming of age story. It is predictable, but captivating. The film follows a handful of high school seniors in their last few weeks of school and beyond. I suppose the main character is Sonny Crawford (Timothy Crawford), but the film is more of an ensemble piece. On their one-year anniversary, Sonny breaks up with his girlfriend because she is ugly and controlling. He ends up having an affair with his coach's wife, played magnificently by Cloris Leachman. His best friend Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges) is captain of the high school football team and boyfriend of the Jacy Farrow (Cybil Shepherd), the prettiest girl in all of Anarene. Farrow's mother Lois (Ellen Burstyn) isn't too fond of Duane and insists that her daughter sleep with him so she realizes he isn't that special. The shenanigans don't stop there. The film is full of them. They set the stage for a fascinating look inside the psyche of the youth and adults of a small town dying to break free from its prison.

Overall, the entire town is one big soap opera. There isn't much plot in "The Last Picture Show," but it never gets boring. It is the only film to be nominated for four acting Oscars exclusively in the supporting categories. The magnificent performances from everyone in the film are what keeps us rooted to our seat. We become attached to the characters and how they handle being thrown into the real world. We long, like they do, for the return of happiness and innocence to the town. We hate who they have become, but at the same time we are intrigued by the path that they took to get there. By the time the movie's over, we recognize that "The Last Picture" isn't just another good movie. It's a work of art.