OK, I realize that this film predates the Big Chill, but comparisons abound here. In BC, you have a group of seven successful former college friends who get together and realize how much they sold out to get where they are today. In S7, you have seven former college friends who are all miserable failures and seemingly never had their values challenged at all.<br /><br />Not much conflict there; basically, who cares?<br /><br />In BC, you had a great soundtrack filled with some of the best music of the characters' college years. In S7, you get yodeling. Lots of yodeling. And a bar scene where the singing makes you nostalgic for the yodeling.<br /><br />Not much entertainment value there, either.<br /><br />In BC, you have seven excellent actors who are at the top of their craft, proving that being in your 30s and 40s does not disqualify you from being funny, sexy, and smart in film. In S7, you have six people you'll never hear from again and David Straithairn, who although he is a fine actor, doesn't deliver here.<br /><br />So, although I love John Sayles (Matewan and Eight Men Out were unbelievably terrific movies), and although this movie did come first, I would avoid it like a dead skunk in the middle of the road. If this was his first movie, it is a tribute to Sayles that he learned many important lessons from it. And never repeated his mistakes. If you want to see a movie like this, stick to the Big Chill.