The Big Chill: A reminder of William Hurt’s immense but understated power on screen

Lawrence Kasdan’s comedy-drama, about a group of friends who reunite at the funeral of their dead friend Alex, starred the saturnine Hurt, who died earlier this week. It was made 40 years ago this year but, says Geoffrey Macnab, it’s still one of the greatest films about friendship

Friends forever: Glenn Close, Meg Tilly, Tom Berenger, Mary Kay Place, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum and JoBeth Williams in ‘The Big Chill’ (1983) (Moviestore/Shutterstock)

Nick Carlton wears sunglasses, drives a Porsche and smokes an inordinate amount of dope. This is the character played by William Hurt in Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill (1983) – which was shot 40 years ago this year. It’s one of Hurt’s most vivid screen performances, spiky and compelling.

“So you came back from Vietnam a changed man?” Nick asks himself in an interview he records, asking why he has such trouble with “this completion thing” and never finishes anything he starts.

The film reminds us of Hurt’s immense but understated power on screen. The star, who died aged 71 earlier this week, had a chequered private life and was accused of physical abuse by Marlee Matlin, the deaf performer with whom he co-starred in Children of a Lesser God (1986). In his best roles, he had a strange, enigmatic charisma. He could play sardonic, cynical, repressed, or even murderous figures without losing an audience’s sympathy. You can’t help but warm to him in The Big Chill because he cares so little about ingratiating himself with anyone. He takes pleasure in being outspoken and obnoxious but is so obviously suffering himself.