The Last Picture Show (1971)

It's been decades now but I first saw this in a theater and was mesmerized by the drama, the actors and, ultimately by the usually bleak but sometimes "John Ford-like" scenerywon't deny that the nude scenes, mild as they are today, also still stick in my mindregardless, due to Bogdanovich's efforts alone I learned the good in this case" (along with, later, the "bad" power of cinema these widely respected individuals' routinely use for their own, usually infantile or debased sexual gratification

I recently watched it again after many years. I remember rating it very highly when I saw it 20 years ago. I was a bit apprehensive because it seems that movies we loved before don't always hold up. Anyway, I needn't have worried. What a beautifully melancholic film this is. The cast are excellent, especially Timothy Bottoms as the sad eyed Sonny and Cloris Leachman as the coach's wife. The cinematography is also amazing and the black and white images really add to the tone, becoming almost a character in themselves. Bogdanovich was on a roll here and what a shame that after What's up Doc and Paper Moon he entered a slow decline.My favorite scene is when Ben Johnson takes the boys out and reminisces about his past with Ellen Burstyn's character. In some ways this scene is one of the finest in American cinema and is heartbreaking. I envy those who haven't seen it as you have a treat in store.

I saw this for the first time at least 15 years after its release quite by accident and was very pleasantly surprised. I've never seen a film that struck so many chords of reality.Sam's soliloquy at the tank ("Bein' a dried up old bag of bones, that's what's ridiculous - getting' old.") is as bittersweet an observation of the fruits and futilities of life as anything I have ever seen or read - from Sophocles to Shakespeare to Donne to Dickens - it doesn't get any better.The leads all perform with a subdued expressiveness that leaves one hanging on every word they say, expecting some profundity in every statement. There are a few scenes I could do without and some of the characters are inadequately fleshed out but this is a movie I can watch over and over again, thinking to myself "Man, I wish I had said that!"

I fell in love with this film, like I thought I wouldn't, as having seen Texasville earlier. To put it bluntly, The Last Picture Show is a cinematic, flawless masterpiece, steered by a ensemble of great actors, who come together like one big family as working so well off each other. Even a young Bridges, already showed so much great talent here, as a rebel town kid, Duane, best friends with Bottoms, who is a lighter natured boy. Duane is going out with the hottest girl in this small out of way Texas town (Shepherd) who's never looked hotter as the virginal sweetheart. Her timidity in the skinning dipping scene with a young randy, Randy Quaid, another acting asset as Lester, the town clown, is so cute. Set at the start of the good 'ol seventies, we follow the lives of these late teens, going through the normal changes in their life and passing into manhood, where they're a lot of moments we familiarize with reality. Times are getting tougher, the picture theatre closing down for one thing, where Duane ends going in the army, and an older Cloris Leachman becomes a sort of Mrs Robinson to a young Bottoms, after her husband Sam The Lion (Ben Johnson) passes, which I must say was a turning point. The last goodbye Duane and Sonny gave Sam, before heading down to Mexico before death took hold, made that memory more affecting Johnson's is the most memorable performance, an Oscar richly deserved, where Bridges was still getting started as an actor, as many others. Every actors great, every character leaving a visual impression on ya. The black and white choice for this film, couldn't of cut it more perfectly. The dry arid landscapes, the dusty shots of the town, the cold lake shots, are visually beautiful and memorable, reminding me of my own Northbound towns in the dry Summer heat. None was a more affecting moment than the hit and run of the young dumb sweeper kid, (Sam Bottoms). The friendship between Sonny and him, I really liked. In a mature screenplay, TLPS is just one of those unforgettable films, with unforgettable moments, some amusing, where really what I loved about it, was the characters, steered by such heavyweight performances, which was the real strength that drove this movie. Excellente.