Review of The Last Picture Show (1971) by Zak N — 27 Jun 2004

[color=#cdfe00][font=Tahoma]"The Last Picture Show" is another movie, as Roger Ebert says, that all young kids (teenagers) should see. Much like films like "Rebel Without a Cause" this film delves into the psyche of young people in search of something. Here it seems that Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) seeks love and happiness in a town that is too small and old fashioned to offer up such amenities. The trap of a small town sucks him in. Those that are lucky enough to get out after high school never return, those that aren't will never leave. [/font][/color].

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[color=#cdfe00][font=Tahoma]The film stars Bottoms as well as Jeff Bridges, first-timer Cybill Shepherd, Ellen Burstyn, and Academy Award winners Cloris Leachman and Ben Johnson. [/font][/color].

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[color=#cdfe00][font=Tahoma]Sonny seems to have no aspirations of leaving his small Texas town. Much like the majority of teenager males he aims to get laid. When he breaks up with his steady because she won't put out, and his best friend is already dating the prettiest girl in school, he falls into a relationship with the basketball coach?s wife (Cloris Leachman) who harbors a mysterious secret. Life turns bleak when the owner of the cafe, picture show, and pool hall passes away as he seems to be one of the only elder people that could relate to Sonny. When his best pal's relationship fails and leaves town, his girlfriend slowly builds up he sexual maturity and moves in on Sonny because of pressure to marry a stable young man. It turns out that she may only been looking for a man with sexual experience, as word had it, Sonny had developed much of with the coach's wife. More tragedy ensures and the small town gets its hooks in Sonny again. [/font][/color].

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[color=#cdfe00][font=Tahoma]Bottoms' performance is excellent. His face conveys something indescribable, but I was draw to him and felt a genuine connection. [/font][/color].

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[color=#cdfe00][font=Tahoma]Cybill Shepherd in her first cinematic role was amazing as Jacy Farrow. Her beauty in this film is absolutely mesmerizing as she was perfectly cast. Her powers of manipulation made me realize why the characters were so fixated with her. Her progression as a character is a sight to see. [/font][/color].

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[color=#cdfe00][font=Tahoma]Peter Bogdanovich received much praise for his directing and rightly so. It could have been the print I saw, but there seemed to be tonal changes that were hard to miss. They seem to speak to the character's emotions in several scenes. [/font][/color].

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[color=#cdfe00][font=Tahoma]Robert Surtees' cinematography brilliantly captured the beauty and entrapment of the small Texas town. This type of cinematic excellence seems to come easily from the man who shot such films as "The Graduate" and "Ben-Hur". [/font][/color].

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[color=#cdfe00][font=Tahoma]I was left wanting more from this picture. Much like Sonny, and probably many people from small towns, I wasn't satisfied. I wanted to see how these relationships turned out but just as Sonny is doomed to monotony the picture must come to an end. [/font][/color].