History Film / ReturnOfTheSecaucusSeven

A group of old college friends and former 1960s radicals gather together for a weekend reunion at the New Hampshire house of Mike Donnelly (Bruce [=MacDonald=]), a history teacher, and Katie Spiriano (Maggie Renzi), an English teacher. The visitors include Irene Rosenblum (Jean Passanante), who works as a speechwriter for a U.S. Senator, along with her current boyfriend Chip Hollister (Creator/GordonClapp); J.T. (Adam [=LeFevre=]), who's trying to make it as a folk singer; Frances Carlson (Maggie Cousineau), a doctor; Maura Tolliver (Karen Trott), who teaches theater to children; and Jeff Andrews (Mark Arnott), a drug counselor, who Maura has just broken up with after a five-year relationship. Over the course of the weekend, the friends hang out, play games, and reminisce about their past.

* AnswerCut: Done twice. First, when Katie picks up Maura at the bus stop, Irene asks, "Is J.T. here?" In the next shot, we see Maura and J.T. hugging each other at Mike and Katie's house.

* DeadpanSnarker: Katie definitely is an example of this, especially when she's talking about Lacey, Mike's ex-girlfriend and the one they're going to see in a play later (see StylisticSuck below). When one of the friends brings up the last time Lacey promised "free entertainment", Katie points out, "It was free."

* ShoutOut: At one point, as a joke, Katie and Mike refer to each other as [[Series/LeaveItToBeaver June and Ward]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Jeff can come off as abrasive (especially when he's arguing with Maura and Chip), and he's carrying around heroin, which could have gotten them in real trouble when they were arrested. However, he treats everyone else well - he even makes up with J.T. after J.T. admits he slept with Maura - he lets Irene go without a fuss (and there's an indication they'll be BetterAsFriends), and he even admits Chip is a good guy, even if he disagrees with him (and the senator Chip works for).

** The groups the female rock critic mentions as being examples of ProgressiveRock include Music/{{Yes}}, Music/{{Rush}}, and Music/KingCrimson.

* PhotoMontage: The movie opens with mug shot-type photos of the Secaucus seven, making the film seem like it's going to be a crime movie, rather than the character-driven SlifeOfLife {{Dramedy}} it turns out to be.

* HangoverSensitivity: Almost everyone (especially Katie) is hungover and tired on their last morning together, except for Mike (who's cooking breakfast) and Chip (the only one eating). Discussed later by Katie and Frances; when Katie remembers how she used to be able to get stoned all the time and feel fine the next day, Frances points out [[CantHoldTheirLiquour she could never handle alcohol]], and Katie reluctantly agrees.

** Jeff and J.T. joke [[IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer about threatening Chip if he hurts Irene]] by breaking his thumbs, as in ''Film/TheHustler''.

A group of old college friends and former 1960s radicals gather together for a weekend reunion at the New Hampshire house of Mike Donnelly (Bruce [=MacDonald=]), a history teacher, and Katie Spiriano (Maggie Renzi), an English teacher. The visitors include Irene Rosenblum (Jean Passanante), who works as a speechwriter for a U.S. Senator, along with her current boyfriend Chip Hollister (Creator/GordonClapp); J.T. (Adam [=LeFevre=]), who's trying to make it as a folk singer; Frances Carlson (Maggie Cousineau), a doctor; Maura Tolliver (Karen Trott), who teaches theater to children; and Jeff Andrews (Mark Arnott), a drug counselor, whom Maura has just broken up with after a five-year relationship. Over the course of the weekend, the friends hang out, play games, and reminisce about their past.

The film was a modest hit (making $2 million on a budget of $60,000), and was part of the independent film movement that gathered steam in the 1980s before exploding in the 1990s. It also paved the way for other movies about old friends getting together for a weekend, particularly ''Film/TheBigChill'', although Sayles always took pains to point out the films were quite different from each other.[[note]]For one thing, the characters in ''Film/TheBigChill'' were yuppies, while the characters in Sayles' film were mostly lower-class or lower middle-class; also, the characters in Sayles' film were still holding on to their ideals from the '60s, while the characters in the other film feel guilty that they've lost theirs.[[/note]] In 1997, the film was added to the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry for its historic merits.

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''Return of the Secaucus Seven'' is a {{Dramedy}} and independent film that marked the directorial debut of Creator/JohnSayles.

A group of former 1960s radicals get together at the house of Mike (Bruce [=MacDonald=]), a history teacher, and Katie (Maggie Renzi), an English teacher. They include Irene (Jean Passanante), who works as a speechwriter for a senator - along with her current boyfriend Chip (Creator/GordonClapp) - J.T. (Adam [=LeFevre=]), who's trying to make it as a country singer/guitarist, Frances (Maggie Cousineau), a doctor, Maura (Karen Trott), who teaches theater to children, and Jeff (Mark Arnott), a drug counselor, whom Maura has just broken up with after a five-year relationship. Over the course of the weekend, the friends hang out, play games, and reminisce about their past.

The film was a modest hit (making $2 million on a budget of $60,000), and was part of the independent film movement that gathered steam in the 1980's before exploding in the 1990's. It also paved the way for other movies about friends getting together for a weekend, particularly ''Film/TheBigChill'', although Sayles always took pains to point out the films were quite different from each other.[[note]]For one thing, the characters in ''Film/TheBigChill'' were yuppies, while the characters in Sayles' film were mostly lower-class or lower middle-class; also, the characters in Sayles' film were still holding on to their ideals from the 60's, while the characters in the other film feel guilty that they've lost theirs[[/note]] In 1997, the film was added to the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry for its historic merits.

''Film/ReturnOfTheSecaucusSeven'' is a {{Dramedy}} and independent film that marked the directorial debut of Creator/JohnSayles.

A group of former 1960's radicals get together at the house of Mike (Bruce [=MacDonald=]), a history teacher, and Katie (Maggie Renzi), an English teacher. They include Irene (Jean Passanante), who works as a speechwriter for a senator - along with her current boyfriend Chip (Creator/GordonClapp) - J.T. (Adam [=LeFevre=]), who's trying to make it as a country singer/guitarist, Frances (Maggie Cousineau), a doctor, Maura (Karen Trott), who teaches theater to children, and Jeff (Mark Arnott), a drug counselor, whom Maura has just broken up with after a five-year relationship. Over the course of the weekend, the friends hang out, play games, and reminisce about their past.

!!This film contains examples of:

The film was a modest hit (making $2 million on a budget of $60,000), and was part of the independent film movement that gathered steam in the 1980's before exploding in the 1990's. It also paved the way for other movies about friends getting together for a weekend, particularly ''Film/TheBigChill'', although Sayles always took pains to point out the films were quite different from each other.[[note]]For one thing, the characters in ''Film/TheBigChill were yuppies, while the characters in Sayles' film were mostly lower-class or lower middle-class; also, the characters in Sayles' film were still holding on to their ideals from the 60's, while the characters in the other film feel guilty that they've lost theirs[[/note]] In 1997, the film was added to the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry for its historic merits.

* IronicEchoCut: When Katie tells Mike how she saw J.T. and Maura having sex (see DramaticIrony above) and then they hear Chip and Irene having sex in the bedroom above, Mike jokes, "Jesus, what did you put in the food?" Cut to Mike making everyone breakfast the next day.

* ShoutOut: Frances, Irene, Katie and Maura are playing TabletopGame/{{Clue}} at one point.

* TheAlcoholic: Norman, whom the friends meet at the police station. He admits he's been like this since the shoe factory he worked at closed down. He also turns out to be a ChehkovsGunman, as he's the one who was responsible for killing the deer the friends were arrested for.

** Jeff and J.T. joke [[IfYouDoAnythingToHurtHer about threatening Chip if he hurts Irene]] by breaking his thumbs, as in ''Film/TheHustler''.

* Also, near the end of the film, Jeff chops a bunch of wood, partly to pay back Mike and Katie for their kindness, but mostly to work off his anger at the breakup of his relationship with Maura.