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 | New Hampshire | Protest | Weekend

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

Color:

Color

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:

Jeff Andrews: My problem is the repetitiveness. Y'know... wine, women, and whiteline fever, over and over. Whereas, progressive is existential. You got these chromatic melodies, right? To use for, like, a springboard into all kinds of experiments. Even the backbeat is full of nuances...
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "Leave It to Beaver" (1957)

Soundtrack:

Barbecue Rag

What a great film!

This is what good moviemaking is about. If you are looking for million-dollar cost overruns, over-rated movie stars, the same crop of (yawn) "special" effects and trite action-movie plots and dialog, look elsewhere. This is young John Sayles doing his absolute best with limited resources. The characters are realistic, the dialog brilliant yet believable and the script does an excellent job of handling the subject of not only growing up, but growing older with a bittersweet sense of humor.

For years I heard this film described as The Big Chill only three years earlier. A pretty accurate description. The plot and characters are similar, but Return of the Secaucus 7 has more layers, and provides more random "slice of life" scenes. Whilst watching this film, you can't help the feeling you know these people, or someone like them. Sayles manages to prove that real life situations can be interesting, funny and touching; unexpected moments can start a chain of life-altering events.

The New Hampshire scenery is beautiful – nice to see something shot anywhere other than NYC or a Hollywood back lot. A testament to friendship, fun and low-budget filmmaking.