 |  | Late-80s Manhattan Culture Personified in 'Bright Lights, Big City': RECOMMENDED!! |  |
I just finished watching 'Bright Lights, Big City' probably for the 5th or 6th time over the weekend. I actually have this movie on VHS cassette that I taped on HBO YEARS ago. Anyway, this movie still holds up after many viewings. I was a big Manhattan clubgoer from the late-80s to the mid-90s and this movie really captures that world pretty well. LOVE the beginning scenes at the now-gone-forever Palladium on East 14th Street (it was torn down to build dormitories for NYU). The movie superbly tells the story of a naive small-town young man (Jamie Conway, played brilliantly by Michael J. Fox) with dreams of being a modern-day 'F. Scott Fitz-Hemingway' (a phrase actually used in the movie) whose life is turned upside-down by the unexpected departure of his newlywed wife. She pursues her dreams to be a model at the expense of Jamie's heart. He drowns his sorrows in cocaine within the very-alluring Manhattan club life of the day (trust me - the Manhattan nightlife ain't what it used to be - the Golden Age is over). He is also dealing with the recent death of his mother to cancer and a very unfulfilling job. I love this movie because Jamie Conway could have been anyone - someone with big dreams who moves away from home to seek a better life and unwittingly has his dreams destroyed by users and backstabbers. Oh yeah, and the music is great too (Prince, Donald Fagen, Bryan Ferry, Narada Michael Walden). I highly, HIGHLY recommend this great 80s movie. (Word of warning, especially for NYC lovers....the long, endearing shot of the Twin Towers at the movie's end may bring a tear or two to your eyes....it did to mine.)
May 5, 2008This movie showed me just how easy it is for things to fall apart in someone's life. We see the main character Jaime on a downward slide. His wife left him, his job is beginning to fall apart and he is living in this phase where he is using drugs and booze to wash away painful memories that he would like to avoid. This is a sad movie. Phoebe Cates was perfect in her role. It was a smaller role than I expected... I mean her character has a huge impact on Jaime, but she isn't in the movie very much. The times where she is present she plays the role of a self absorbed model-to-be perfectly. She always has this smirk on her face that just really sums up how vapid she is. This movie was also scary. With a job falling apart and a personal life that is a total mess, there is always the temptation to just sort of give up on things and live in the present. Looking for fun to hide the pain, only the fun that Jaime seeks is impossible to obtain. Drugs and booze become his crutch and the the fast life of New York in the 80's becomes his life... until he realizes that this is not a way to live, this is a way to die. The movie is perfect, the acting was outstanding, the story was believable, the screenplay well written, witty and deep. 5 stars for this gem of a movie that is among the best of any drug addiction movie I have ever seen. Powerful, captivating, emotional, entertaining and gives a message of hope. Oh, you really should see this.
April 28, 2008Could this finally be a WIDESCREEN VERSION??!! I hope so! This is a classic movie that's sadly only been available in cropped full screen format.
** Time to celebrate! I just read somewhere that this will be a 20 year anniversary release! **
April 12, 2008It has very little of the brilliance of the book, but Bright Lights, Big City provides a somewhat entertaining look at the decadent 80s. Most of the merit resides on Michael J. Fox, who manages, against great odds, to make Jamie a relatable character on the verge of self-destruction. Kiefer Sutherland is also great as his sleazy enabler and sidekick. Phoebe Cates, on the other hand, is the movie's worst mistake. She's pretty enough, but not for one second I bought that she was a runway model (how tall is she? Five five?) or, for that matter, that she'd inspire such passion from Fox.
January 19, 2008 | | Turn out the lights.......... | |
The only Michael J. Fox film that is worse than "Bright Lights, Big City", is "Light of Day" with co-star Joan Jett. Fox gives a good performance considering, but I would call both of these films "duds". Every actor has to make a few appearances in bad films, to pay their dues, so to speak, to acquire name recognition within the industry. This film was made before Fox's career really starting taking off. He came off running good in "Back to the Future", but "Bright Lights, Big City" was nothing more than a stumbling block to his career, in my humble opinion. This film was not well written, poorly directed, distasefully done. It is boring and the subject matter goes way overboard into the drug scene. I felt it gloried a lot of disgusting things. I was not at all impressed. The acting was good, casting was good, good cinematography, but just a very poor screenplay to begin with, for which there is no resurrection. Not something I would recommend. There are many other movies to choose from that are entertaining, and well done. This is not one of them.
October 30, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
(26 reviews)