The Last Picture Show

Name: The Last Picture Show
Genre: Drama
Released: October 22, 1971
Duration: 118 min
Rating: 93
Cast: Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Clu Gulager, Cybill Shepherd, Eileen Brennan

1971

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 34 Ratings

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8.3

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8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 34 Ratings

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The Last Picture Show

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Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: October 22, 1971 | R

Starring: Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Clu Gulager, Cybill Shepherd, Eileen Brennan, Ellen Burstyn, Jeff Bridges, Sam Bottoms, Sharon Ullrick, Timothy Bottoms

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.

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 118 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Bogdanovich's finest effort; bleak and beguiling. Read full review

100

Stefan Kanfer

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. Read full review

100

Tom Huddleston

The scene where Sam imparts his wisdom to young buck Bottoms may be the saddest, loveliest moment in 1970s American cinema. And that’s saying something. Read full review

100

Philip Kemp

A worthy tribute to Bogdanovich's idols, Orson Welles and John Ford. Read full review

100

Joshua Rothkopf

It's meant to make you feel sad for what's lost, but a vitality throbs through it. Read full review

Vincent Canby

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. Read full review

Pauline Kael

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. Read full review

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User Reviews

Gamzguy17

Aug 21, 2021

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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Compi24

Apr 23, 2020

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 theAn 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.… Expand

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AJ_13

Jul 31, 2022

It really worked out for me until it's last third, when the pace starts to drag and you lose interest as Duane and Jacy hardly appear on screen. Some great performances and writing. Cybill Shepherd is a goddess.

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Voodoo123

Feb 19, 2023

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 whiteThis 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.… Expand

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