The Last Picture Show (1971)

Release date: 1971-10-22
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Production Co: Columbia Pictures, BBS Productions, Last Picture Show Productions
Genre: Drama
Rating: 8.0/10
Length: 1h 58min

Storyline

In tiny Anarene, Texas, in the lull between World War Two and the Korean Conflict, Sonny and Duane are best friends. Enduring that awkward period of life between boyhood and manhood, the two pass their time the best way they know how -- with the movie house, football, and girls. Jacy is Duane's steady, wanted by every boy in school, and she knows it. Her daddy is rich and her mom is good looking and loose. It's the general consensus that whoever wins Jacy's heart will be set for life. But Anarene is dying a quiet death as folks head for the big cities to make their livings and raise their kids. The boys are torn between a future somewhere out there beyond the borders of town or making do with their inheritance of a run-down pool hall and a decrepit movie house -- the legacy of their friend and mentor, Sam the Lion. As high school graduation approaches, they learn some difficult lessons about love, loneliness, and jealousy. Then folks stop attending the second-run features at the movie...

Plot Keywords

1950s, texas, nostalgia, child molester, sexual awakening, small town, character's point of view camera shot, college, female frontal nudity, gay, older woman younger man relationship, year 1951, high school graduation, movie theater, pool hall, football team, flirting, flask, fishing, fight

Short Review

At first glance, the movie is a faithful and skillful adaptation of the source, but a second look at both the film and the book reveals some interesting divergences.