Review of The Last Picture Show (1971) by Jack W — 13 Sep 2009

This film is slowly paced with a confusing narrative so I can't imagine it too be a popular choice with today's audiences. The cinematography is excellent. Bogdanovich really showed a knack for not only positioning the camera in interesting and innovative places but when he edited the film together he intensified this by placing images together in the same way.

This is further backed up by what had to be some very difficult lighting schemes. There were some good acting performances, especially by Cloris Leachman and it was really cool to see some actors really, really young like Jeff Bridges and Randy Quaid.

To me though the power of the film lies in the subtext. The film seemingly is about goings on in a dying Texas town, quaint and at peace with itself. Yet like the 50's themselves there is an underlying tension to the town and its people.

There is much to be dealt with that instead gets swept under the rug. The characters portrayed by Shephard, Bottoms, Bridges, Johnson and Leachman all serve larger issues. Definitely a film worth watching again.