I hadn't heard of The Last Picture Show, and I'm not exactly sure why it's on the list. While it held my attention, and the acting was good, I didn't notice anything spectacular about it. It was very open about sex and scandal in small town America, and there was a lot of nudity, which was likely progressive for 1971, so my guess is it qualified based on its "it was shocking at the time" merit.
It's mostly about a group of teenagers in Texas, bored and exploring their sexuality. Jacy is the main girl, and she is a sexually curious, bitchy dingbat who likes playing games with people -annoying, but not shocking. When Jacy's boyfriend, Duane (Jeff Bridges), fails to perform sexually, she belittles him to no end: "Well, get off a minute, for goodness sake. You might fall and mash me. It's 'cause you and Sonny went down to Mexico. No telling what you got down there. I just hate you. I don't know why I ever went with you. Put some clothes on! You think I wanna sit around here and look at you nekkid? I might never get to not be a virgin. I think you're the meanest boy I ever saw. My mother was dead right about you. You better not tell one soul -you just pretend it was wonderful."
Sonny is the central male character, and he is also, surprise surprise, exploring his sexuality -with Jacy, with another girl from school, and with Ruth Popper, the unhappy wife of his basketball coach.
It's also about the adults in the town, most of whom are unsatisfied with how their lives have turned out and fool around in the hope of finding happiness. One such is Jacy's mom, Lois, a floozy who cheats on her rich husband with abandon, and fondly remembers an affair she once had with Sam the Lion:
Sonny: Are you -are you the one he used to take swimmin'? Out at the tank?
Lois: He told you about that, huh? Yeah, I was the one. I guess if it wasn't for Sam, I'd just about have missed it, whatever it is. I'd have been one of them Amity types that thinks that playin' bridge is about the best thing that life has to offer. Old Sam the Lion. Sam the Lion -you know, nobody knows where he got that name. I gave it to him. One night, well, it just came to me. He was so pleased. I was 22 years old then. Can you imagine? I'll tell you, Sonny, it's terrible to only meet one man in your whole life who knows what you're worth. Just terrible. I've looked, too. You wouldn't believe how I've looked.
It's hard to feel sorry for her, because she could have left her husband and been with Sam if she'd really wanted to.
Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson won Best Supporting Actor for this part) was probably my favorite character. Sam is a local businessman and wise mentor figure to Sonny. He acts as the movie's moral compass, protecting a young man named Billy, who is mentally handicapped: "You boys can get on out of here, I don't want to have no more to do with you. Scarin' a poor, unfortunate creature like Billy just so's you could have a few laughs -I've been around that trashy behavior all my life, I'm gettin' tired of puttin' up with it. Now you can stay out of this pool hall, out of my cafe, and my picture show too -I don't want no more of your business."Cloris Leachman won Best Supporting Actress for the role of the depressed, neglected wife, Ruth Popper, and I think she deserved it. She turns to Sonny for comfort, and is devestated when he disappears to have a brief fling with Jacy, who just wants to get some attention and a rise out of her parents: "Three months I been apologizing to you, without you even bein' here. I haven't done anything wrong -why can't I quit apologizin'? You're the one oughta be sorry. I wouldn't still be in my bathrobe if it hadn't been for you. I'da had my clothes on hours ago. You're the one made me quit carin' if I got dressed or not. I guess just because your friend got killed you want me to forget what you did and make it all right. I'm not sorry for you. You'd've left Billy, too, just like you left me. I bet you left him plenty a nights, whenever Jacy whistled. I wouldn't treat a dog that way. I guess you thought I was so old and ugly you didn't owe me any explanation. You didn't need to be careful of me."
She's referring to the handicapped boy mentioned above, Billy, whose premature death is really heart-breaking. Billy is hit by a car, and the crowd that gathers around his body doesn't seem to care, musing over what he was doing in the street. Sonny cries out, "He was sweeping you sons of bitches, he was sweeping!" and picks up poor Billy's body. So sad.
At the Oscars it lost to The French Connection (#93). I think Fiddler on the Roof should have won, but oh well.
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