X
- 1971
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 58 m
- 1971
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 58 m
Summary In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied West Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
Directed By: Peter Bogdanovich
Written By: Larry McMurtry, Peter Bogdanovich
- 1971
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 58 m
- 1971
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 58 m
The Last Picture Show
8.2
Where to Watch
Summary In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied West Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
Directed By: Peter Bogdanovich
Written By: Larry McMurtry, Peter Bogdanovich
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
93
100% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
93
100% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A worthy tribute to Bogdanovich's idols, Orson Welles and John Ford.
Director Bogdanovich has achieved a tactile sense of time and place. More, he has performed that most difficult of all cinematic feats: he has made ennui fascinating. Together, that is enough to herald him as possibly the most exciting new director in America today.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 41 User Ratings
8.2
90% Positive
37 Ratings
37 Ratings
7% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
2% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 41 User Ratings
8.2
90% Positive
37 Ratings
37 Ratings
7% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
2% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
A fabulous example of taking a two hour film and making it feel like we are visitors who have been transported to another place and time; a time which encompasses the span of several months without any dull character developments.
The cinematography is spot-on gorgeous.
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Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman won Oscars, but the work of Eileen Brennan and Timothy Bottoms is even more cherishable.
Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 ode to a Texan small town is still a masterpiece whichever way you look at it.
Peter Bogdanovich's fine second film, The Last Picture Show, adapted from Larry McMurtry's novel by McMurtry and Bogdanovich, has the effect of a lovely, leisurely, horizontal pan-shot across the life of Anarene, Tex., a small, shabby town on a plain so flat that to raise the eye even 10 degrees would be to see only an endless sky.
Bogdanovichs perfect recreation of the sense of time and place, and his ability to mix wit with poignancy that make this such a charming, timeless film.
It’s plain and uncondescending in its re-creation of what it means to be a high-school athlete, of what a country dance hall is like, of the necking in cars and movie houses, and of the desolation that follows high-school graduation.
An unflinchingly honest, raw and saddening tale of adolescent existentialism, generational relations and the pitfalls of the American small town, "The Last Picture Show" is a thematically resonant tentpole of the New Hollywood movement, yet one I still regard as a fitting testament to the notion that a movie can't succeed on thematic resonance alone. Granted, there's more at work here beyond that, it's still impossible to deny that all other elements take a back seat to the overall subtext at work. With this in mind, no single component takes more of a hit than the pacing. Combined with the fact that this is already a relatively quiet and subtle experience for most of its running time anyway, "The Last Picture Show's" deliberate cadence will be sure to try the patience of at least some viewers. When all is said and done, though, I'm also sure there'll be some sort of ethical/psychological/sociological kernel of knowledge that everyone will take away from the experience.
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This slow paced drama uses its superb ensemble cast well focusing primarily on the story of a young man navigating his small town life as he begins a sexual relationship with a middle aged married woman. There are some great plot points but the slow paced dry direction and black and white photography did little to draw me into the world. Worth a watch just for the cast.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 2 Wins & 8 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
• 3 Wins & 6 Nominations
