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The Last Picture Show (1971)
Anarene,
Texas, 1951. Nothing much has changed...
Director: Peter Bogdanovich, rated R for
language, nudity
  Starring:
Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman,
Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Clu Gulager, Sam Bottoms, Randy Quaid
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★☆☆
- great
"You wouldn't believe
how this country's changed. First time I seen it, there wasn't a
mesquite tree on it.
Or, a prickly pear neither. I used to own
this land, you know." –
Sam the Lion
Why watch this? A
bittersweet story about living in a dying Texas town in 1951.
Plot Summary:
This coming-of-age story is set in the early 1950s in a small,
dying Texas town where two best friends navigate their senior
year of high school. They confront love, betrayal, and the
struggle to escape their stagnant surroundings, while an older
generation grapples with the decline of their community and
changing times. The closure of the town's only movie theater
symbolizes the broader cultural and economic shifts affecting
their lives and prospects.
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Dad's Preview:
There ain't much to do in the little Texas oil town of Anarene. For
the population, it is a painful, banal existence. As we get to know
them, we wonder who will be swallowed up by the nothingness and who will escape.
This well-crafted film perfectly sets the mood, and I can
picture scenes like this playing out in real Texas hamlets like
Morton, Abilene, Waco or Mineral Wells. Hell, I grew up in
Clyde, Texas. Many of this film's young
actors would become majors stars, but it's veteran actor Ben Johnson
who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as Sam the Lion. Way
to go, Ben, 'bout damn time. |
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BBS Productions; Columbia Pictures
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