#90 - The Last Picture Show

Joshua Klein describes The Last Picture Show:

"As a eulogy for the previous generation of master filmmakers (like Howard Hawks or John Ford) as a new generation of youthful pioneers steered filmmaking in a looser, more visceral direction."(pg. 543).


“The Last Picture Show” is described as old-fashioned in a variety of reviews.

However, I think many of the experiences and the feelings of the characters during this quiet but, emotionally strong film are things we can relate to today.

At the start of the film it feels like you have drifted into Anarene, Texas (the setting of this film) with the wind and drift back out when the credits roll.

No major event takes place and the movie is not building up to a major crescendo. Rather, we watch the characters go through several different experiences and make decisions about their present and future.

This picture focuses the majority of it’s time on the young people of Anarene. In particular, we follow the trials and travails of Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges). We follow them around as they try to find ways to pass the time as high-school graduation approaches.

Like most young males in many a coming of age movie we watch several awkward moments involving the opposite sex, and pining over/competing for the affections of the town beauty. Both get their chance with her and gain valuable wisdom from the experience.

One other very common theme in coming of age or movies focused on young people is losing your virginity. In this movie, the town beauty Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd) is on somewhat of a quest to have sex and with the right guy. It seems that in many movies from Clueless to American Pie both boys and girls are often on a quest to get laid.

The one constant thing going on in this movie is the slow-death of Anarene. The town is slowly dying as people move away to big cities. As this happens, the already deserted-looking main street loses the small-movie house when it’s doors close forever. The closing of the town’s only movie theater leaves the youth of the town with even less to do than before.

Anarene has some of the stereotypical qualities small towns have on the big screen: everyone knows everyone and everything going on in their lives, not having much too do, etc.

Despite the stereotypes, this movie shines above similar small-town coming of age movies in two ways. One, the relationship that develops between Sonny and Ruth Popper (Cloris Leachman).

This is one of the highlights of the film. The scenes between these two characters are so well acted and filled with such strong emotions. Leachman is especially great and won a well deserved Oscar for her acting in this movie.

Another way this picture shines is in its cinematography. Filmed in black and white, you can almost feel the wind and the dust blow across your face.

As we meet all the characters and go to various parts of this small town we truly get a sense of what their lives are like. The town feels claustrophobic, dusty, and desolate. We are given visual evidence of this through the many abandoned storefronts, and the lack of people walking around town.

The look of the film combined with the slow but smooth pace really makes you feel all of the emotions the characters are experiencing such as sadness, feeling stuck, lost, and at times lonely.

“The Last Picture Show” is one of the better movies you can watch about teenagers as they come of age. It is an interesting portrait of a small town and the people who live there. In the end, this movie is elevated above some other similar coming of age and “small town” films because of the performances of the actors. They command your attention and keep you watching till the credits roll.