Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Sayles

Writer:

John Sayles (writer)

Release Date:

5 September 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Seven former college friends, along with a few new friends, gather for a weekend reunion at a summer house in New Hampshire to reminisce about the good old days, when they got arrested on the way to a protest in Washington, DC.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | College | Protest | New Hampshire | Best Friend

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Bruce MacDonald	...	Mike Donnelly
Maggie Renzi	...	Katie Sipriano
Adam LeFevre	...	J.T.
Maggie Cousineau	...	Frances Carlson
Gordon Clapp	...	Chip Hollister
Jean Passanante	...	Irene Rosenblue
Karen Trott	...	Maura Tolliver
Mark Arnott	...	Jeff Andrews
David Strathairn	...	Ron Desjardins
John Sayles	...	Howie
Marisa Smith	...	Carol
Amy Schewel	...	Lacey Summers
Carolyn Brooks	...	Meg
Eric Forsythe	...	Captain
Nancy Mette	...	Lee

Also Known As:

Return of the Secaucus 7 (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) (2006) | UK:AA (original rating) | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Jackson, New Hampshire, USA

Company:

Salsipuedes Productions

Quotes:

J.T.: So listen, what-what kind of music do you like?
Lee: Oh, progressive rock mostly.
J.T.: Which is that?
Lee: Oh, King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Rush...
J.T.: Right, right. Heavy metal goes to college.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

Mean to Me

John Sayles' home movie of 1980 America

Overshadowed by its loud, shallow and uncredited remake (The Big Chill) Sayles' first film is a very slight effort that manages to capture a time and place with quiet brilliance. The actors -- first roles for most of them and only roles for some -- are sometimes painfully amateurish and the duration and self-indulgence of some of the scenes make the viewer long for chainsaw intervention, but the film as a whole does a wonderful job of showing a generation of aging idealists on the eve of Reagan's America. Unlike The Big Chill, where everyone is pretty and successful and the dialogue is crisp and full of what passes for wit on prime time TV, Sayles' characters are almost too low-key, their banter sometimes clumsy and their jokes not terribly funny. The unfortunate side effect of his conscientious effort to keep things "real" is that the film sometimes fails to entertain or engage and most of the characters end up outside the viewers' sphere of caring, like someone else's friends in a third-hand story. Still, a very impressive first film and influential on many other 80s movies besides its gaudy imitator.