College friends reunite for a New England summer weekend in this low-budget first feature by accomplished independent filmmaker
John Sayles. A predecessor of the well-paced, character-driven films in Sayles' future,
Secaucus Seven also looks ahead to the 1980s ensemble movies that it inspired, most notably
Lawrence Kasdan's
The Big Chill, which arrived in theaters three years later. As each friend arrives at the house (or travels to the house), characterizations build, dialogue expands, and the house (and film) are full of people getting reacquainted and re-examining themselves and each other. Sayles builds the plot by testing the characters' connections: Will these former radicals accept the uptight boyfriend of the well-loved politico? What happens when a couple splits up? How does the educated set treat the local blue-collars? Many critics cited
Secaucus Seven in their decade-end list of the best films of the 1980s. ~ Norm Schrager, All Movie Guide