A while back, I mentioned that one of my goals is to watch more classic films, especially ones that have received Oscar recognition or that are generally acclaimed by critics. I rarely ever follow through on this goal, however, because I really have no interest in old movies. I’m not a film student or a hardcore film buff, so I’m not the kind of person who can get excited about a particular shot or a director’s techniques. I’m all about plot and pacing, and easily become bored with a movie that goes nowhere. Nevertheless, I rented 1971’s The Last Picture Show over the weekend in the hopes that my attitude would change a bit. It didn’t.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): I’ve seen The Last Picture Show referenced by professional critics as both a “coming-of-age” tale and a “slice-of-life” film. I guess in order to apply one label or the other, you have to decide whether the movie is about the characters (specifically Sonny) or about the death of the town (Anarene, TX). Personally, I felt the events of the film had more to do with small-town life than with the particular lives of the characters, so that’s the frame of reference I’m writing from here.
The Last Picture Show doesn’t have the typical narrative structure that you expect from a movie. Instead, what we get is a glimpse of a year in the lives of several inhabitants of Anarene. Anarene is a typical small, dying town with absolutely nothing going on in it. The three main attractions are the pool hall, the diner, and the movie theater — all of them owned by Sam the Lion (played by Ben Johnson) and all of them dying just as fast as the town itself.
So what are the inhabitants of Anarene supposed to do for fun? If this screenplay is to be believed, they have sex. Lots of it. Sonny (Timothy Bottoms), a high school senior, gets it on with Mrs. Popper (Cloris Leachman), the 40-something wife of his gym teacher. His best friend Duane (Jeff Bridges) tries to get it on with Jacy (Cybill Shepherd), but he can’t perform. Jacy is mostly a tease where the high school boys are concerned, but she lets herself be seduced by Abilene (Clu Gulager), the man her mother is having an affair with. And on and on.
Through it all, the young people lose their innocence, the older people become more jaded, and the viewer is left with the feeling that things will continue to go on in that way.
My Reaction: As you can see from my Plot Summary, not a whole heck of a lot happens in this movie. But from what I’ve read, The Last Picture Show made quite a splash when it was released in ‘71. It was referred to as “the sex movie,” for obvious reasons, and it was “cool” for underage teens to sneak into theaters to see this. Unfortunately, 36 years later, sex is not enough to sustain this movie for a modern audience.
Look, I know that The Last Picture Show was about more than sex. It was evocative of a time and place, growing up in a small town in the 1950s. So for people like Roger Ebert, who actually lived through the types of events depicted here, I’m sure the movie resonates with deeper truths.
But for a modern viewer like me, someone in their early thirties who grew up in the affluent western suburbs of Chicago and didn’t have to turn to sex as a means of amusement and/or escape, the message of The Last Picture Show is lost. It’s not relevant to me so I couldn’t identify with it or appreciate it.
Because of the reasons I listed here, I give The Last Picture Show just 5.5 stars out of 10. I’m not saying that it’s overrated or that it doesn’t deserve its place as one of the best American films of all time; I’m just saying that it didn’t mean anything to me.