Customer Reviews

Return of the Secaucus 7

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you know only one thing about "The Return of the Seacaucus 7," you've probably heard that this obscure little $40,000 home movie from 1980 was shamelessly ripped off three years later by Lawrence Kasdan's hit "The Big Chill."

Both movies tell the story of a gang of former 60's activists who reunite for a long weekend, but "Chill," with its bigger budget, name actors and excellent soundtrack, became a cultural touchstone. "Seacaucus," on the other hand, has remained largely unseen for 25 years and, though it marked screenwriter John Sayles' directorial debut, it only recently emerged on DVD.

On the disk's commentary track, Sayles rightly puts to rest "Chill" comparisons, pointing out that the two films have the same format but are intrinsically different. Unlike the affluent yuppies of "Chill," Sayles' characters are crucially younger and less successful; overeducated and underemployed, they're blinking into the headlights of both the Reagan era and their 30's, which are rapidly approaching.

Shot on weekends with money Sayles earned writing Roger Corman horror movies ("Pirhanna" and "Alligator"), "Seacaucus" is a rough gem. His amateur cast isn't too comfortable in front of a camera and their lines feel stagey, but Sayles' writing was good even then. Despite its occasional clunkiness, this early homegrown film paved the way for much better later efforts, like "Matewan," "The Secret of Roan Inish" and the truly great "Lone Star."

I loved this movie when I first saw it in 1982, I was fresh out of college and it was like being part of the ideal reunion: many laughs, some drama, lots of people you'd like to see again. On DVD I was suprised at how much of the movie I remembered, how many lines seemed real, how much fun it would've been to be reunited with a bunch of old pals, and how like old pals these characters were. It's low-key, low-budget, and very real. Some of the performances weren't as good as I'd've liked (like Maura's) and some were better (like Mike and Katie). John Sayles' comment track was very interesting, so were the interviews. One little quibble: there are three scenes missing, all involving Lacie, their actress friend (two onstage, and the backstage meeting), couldn't they have been restored as well as the rest of the film has been? Overall, however, I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better movie about friendship and the passage of time.

'Return of the Secaucus 7" was my first. Independent film, that is. It is not an independent film the way you'd consider indie films of today. VERY low budget - and it shows, though that's not a bad thing. Overall, this film has held up well - which is pretty good 23 yrs later! Sayles did a great job w/the writing and directing - and even his acting is fine.

Released maybe two years ahead of 'The Big Chill', which I found cold, lifeless and built around a soundtrack - not a script. 'Secaucus 7' had a much more intimate feel - and lower key humor, but way more my style (though I didn't find myself as amused as I was @ 17 when I orignally saw it).

The cast is understated and good. It's amazing that more of them have not gone on to do more films of higher (David Strathairn to numerous things, Gordon Clapp to NYPD Blue', Adam LeFevre to many commercials). There is no one stronger character - all have their moments.

I do believe, there is at least one scene cut from the restoration comedy play they attend, but other than that, the movie is intact. One original song by Adam LeFevre ("Mean to Me") is actually very good.

The extras are sparse - w/just commentary from John Sayles and Maggie Renzi. Rent or buy it.

Could this much-imitated movie (it inspired "The Big Chill") already be almost 30 years old?
This low-budget entry from 1980 ushered in the directorial career of John Sayles. It's still fun if a little dated. In fact, it's almost a time capsule.
A group of friends in their late twenties and early thirties return to New Hampshire for a weekend of nostalgia and coupling. They seem so quaint with their 1970s bodies, short shorts and ernest talkiness. The dialogue seems a bit theatrical and nothing much happens over the weekend but you get to know the different characters and their hopes and fears.
It's almost painful watching these baby boomers as they began to tackle, ever so tentatively, the challenges of adulthood. And since this is a generation -- my generation -- that was notorious for trying to hang on to its youth, their efforts don't seem totally convincing.

They seem very sweet, these characters. One wonders what happened to them.

Independent filmmaker John Sayles' debut film, The Return Of The Secaucus 7, released in late 1979, is a film that is typical of the low budget feel of such films from that era- even such horror films like Last House On The Left or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Like those other films it is filled with inexperienced and mediocre acting, and unrealistic dialogue. Before this film was made, Sayles had been a screenwriter and script doctor for Roger Corman's cheapo horror films. This film, however, was the first that bore his own imprint and vision. Unfortunately, the excellence of his later films only points up the flaws of this first film, written and directed by Sayles on a low budget. Like many low budget indy films, this film is long on talk and short on action and visual razzle-dazzle, and was filmed at a New Hampshire lodge.
The film has often been compared to the 1983 Lawrence Kasdan film The Big Chill, but, like that film, there is a dearth of characterization that weighs this film down. The characters in The Return Of The Secaucus 7 are little more than stereotypes, or, at best, archetypes- some are teachers, two are speechwriters for a U.S. Senator- Irene Rosenblue (Jean Passanante) and Chip Hollister (Gordon Clapp), and another is a bad country singer-songwriter. The plot follows a group of pretentious thirtyish former college radicals who gather for a weekend reunion in a small New Hampshire town. Other than that, there is no plot, merely thinly connected scenes of gossip, flirtation, barbecues, Charades and Clue, volleyball, and basketball, nude male rock diving, and alcohol and drug consumption.... one wonders why more was not made of the great late summer landscape of New England? Surely panning over the White Mountains would not have been such a large cost? Is the film wholly devoid of good moments? No. The basketball scenes are well coordinated, and give a good sense of how men bond vs. the women's bonding over Clue, but such moments are too few in number. The Charades scenes are typical of the bad and unrealistic conversations the characters have. Instead of having real conversations that reveal depths, Sayles cuts far too quickly between scenes, in order to push the film forward, but at the expense of depth. With later classics such as Matewan and Lone Star, Sayles would reveal himself as a filmmaker capable of greatness, but this film gives few glances into that later flowering. That it was recently put on the list of important American films worth preservation is more a testament to its place as Sayles' initial film than any qualities the film, alone, has. Still, The Return Of The Secaucus 7 is an interesting film that, despite its flaws, is well worth seeing, if only for film historians who love discerning small traits that hold clues to later and greater art by the artist. For the rest of us, flip a coin, and you have the same shot at enjoying this film. That's still better than most Hollywood films these days. Sigh.

RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN .... If you sort of enjoyed The Big Chill, then this is the "progenitor" of what The Big Chill SHOULD have been; the original recipe. Amazingly, this special, consistently-flowing, 1979-produced film, with engaging character development, does not seem extremely "dated" today, (with a refreshing absence of cell phone scenes, overplayed drug scenes, but including those "short-shorts" on the basketball & volleyball court scenes).

The production was quite advanced in its style of filming, you are mixed into the group dynamics via the unobtrusive and intimate camera work, devoid of the typical pretext, or presentation hoopla often used to force-feed viewers with some sort pre-packaged message, music, or mood set-up. Rather, simply, it's like you are a fly on the wall, and its director John Sayles lets his characters flourish in both humor and angst in a natural flow; it's almost as if the film was done in just one masterful take. Maybe it almost was. (It would be great to find out what those actors and actresses are up to now, my guess is that they largely took up interesting roles in real life decades later, not necessarily acting.) If any you are out there and link to this site, please chime in somewhere ! Director Sayles, who played one of the characters, (I won't reveal which one) went on toward critical acclaim and success in many later directorial projects.

I was fascinated with this film as originally shown with small audience draw in theaters nationally, and I tried to obtain a video copy about ten years later, as it was such a cult film, the video cost something like $40-50 to obtain then. Now, it's back into the "attainable" range. I still love this film, it is a pleasure to own the DVD, and I will enjoy it repeatedly every few years, now.

The coolest thing is, such perfection (IMHO) in filmmaking flew almost completely under the "popular" radar when it was new. If you came of age during the 70s and experienced at least a year or so of college, and got swept up in the pre-aids relationship pleasure/angst culture, (if not the politics), you'll love this "reunion" film. (Of course the reunion occurred at the end of the 70s, of characters originally meeting in the late 60s-early 70s maelstrom. Warning, filmed in peaceful rural Vermont, so don't get your heart set on scenes or glimpses of bygone New Jersey, though the characters will remind you of friends from the NE. Have a glass of wine, darken all the windows, set your phone on vibrate and enjoy getting lost in this timeless time capsule !

Brad Nottingham

When this movie first came out, my wife and I loved it! We also jumped on the whole Secaucus 7 vs. Big Chill bandwagon, with Secaucus 7 emerging as the clear winner. But often with time, some things can change. While it still holds a warm spot in our hearts, the last time we watched it there were parts that made us wince. A lot of the acting and dialog were really, really bad, or at least a lot worse than we remembered. You almost have the feeling that John Sayles just got a bunch of his buddies from film school together and said "c'mon kids, let's go make a movie". For me, the one exception was David Strathairn, who went on to have a notable movie career playing more serious roles, but here he was just hilarious as Ron Desjardins, the local guy from the Sunoco station (loved his idea for the Barry Manilow snowmobile invitational). There were a couple more actors that we've also seen since, like Gordon Clapp (NYPD Blue) and character actor Adam LeFevre. In any case, despite the (sometimes) poor acting and script, it's still nice to put it on now and then and revel in some good old liberal hippie intellectual fun!

This movie deserves all five stars. It's beautifully done, subtle, real, and one of a very few pieces of media that REALLY captures the sixties: the companionship, the ideals, the warmth, the fun, the understandings. It's not Hollywood; that's why it's great.

Return of the Secaucus 7 is an OK film probably best enjoyed by those who either remember the 1960's fondly or have a big interest in that time period and its aftermath since is likely to leave others a bit underwhelmed. I had difficulty caring greatly about the characters and their lives and the acting is a bit uneven. The movie was obviously shot on a shoestring budget and nothing in the storyline is really compelling enough to make up for the lack of a big studio production. I did enjoy unexpectedly seeing a young Gordon Clapp of NYPD Blue fame show up in this film.

To me this defines the so called "Baby Boomers" to a tee. A bunch of coddled, selfish, "educated", self absorbed, hedonistic, psuedo hipster, pseudo intellectual, liberal, upper middle class adults that more or less behave like teenagers 24-7. Everything I hate about the liberal Yuppie Baby Boomer demographic is expressed vividly here. I was cringing throughout because it reminded me of these types that I thought I had escaped. Also the dialogue in this seemed forced and contrived. Only positive was a few of the women in this film were nice to look at.