Classic Film : Films about small-town life.

Films about small-town life.

Because I grew up in small towns, small town films almost always make me happy, even the ones that aren't that good.

Among my favorites:

The Last Picture Show (1971)
Picnic (1956)
Places in the Heart (1984)
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)
The Human Comedy (1943)

(I could go on and on, but will stop for now so others can add more titles.)

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Re: Films about small-town life.

Independence Day 1983.

Independence Day

Richard, I'm sure I saw this film, but for some reason I don't remember small-town life in it. Maybe I've got it mixed up with another film. Can you clarify? I hope you can. Anyway, thanks for the post.

Independence Day

This film

Independence Day

Oh, how on earth did I ever miss this one?!! It's not what I thought it was, but, oh, I'd love to see it! Thank you so much for this introduction. What a cast with a story that I can really relate to. Can't thank you enough!

Independence Day

It's a great movie that many probably haven't seen. Diane Weist's performance is excellent.

Independence Day

👍 I can't remember a time when Diane Weist wasn't excellent. Even when her films aren't that good, she's always outstanding.

Re: Films about small-town life.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape. (1993)
American Graffiti. (1973)

What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

Yes, I held off-posting this one so someone else could have it, but I love it! Depp, the Mom, and especially DiCaprio are great in it. DiCaprio is simply brilliant (in his first Oscar nominated role). The story is so beautiful, so heartbreaking. And Lasse Hallström's direction is superb. I really love it.

And I really enjoy American Graffiti, though I don't love it - or I'm not passionate about it, let's say. But it's a terrific film with a great cast that has a lot to say about a time and a kind of place that I remember so well when I was that age. Brings back a lot of memories for me. Thanks.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Stand by Me

Stand by Me

Oh, yes, a wonderful film about the lives of those who live in a small town but whose main tale takes place outside the town. Rob Reiner did a great job directing that one. I think it probably made Stephen King proud. 🙂

Re: Films about small-town life.

God's Pocket (2014). Takes place in a suffocatingly hermetic small town in Pennsylvania. Astutely captures the stifling nature of a tightknit community in which everyone knows everyone else's business.

Yes, this is really me.

God's Pocket

Haven't seen this one, but it sounds intriguing - a bit of the darker side of small town life, perhaps. A very legitimate approach. Thanks for the introduction, and I'll keep a lookout for it.

Edit: Oh, I see that John Slattery directed it. I know him from the old days, so now I have to see it, though I confess (and I know I'm in the minority here) I'm not a big Philip Seymour Hoffman fan.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Hot Fuzz

Bing.. Wobbledy wobble, wo-wo-wobble, wobbin'
https://vocaroo.com/1hz4nrSop8zd

Hot Fuzz

Haven't seen this one, but have to say it looks intriguing. Thanks.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Here’s an earlier film about violence breaking out in a small English town (village actually)…

Went the Day Well?

Oh, this looks like a winner. Can't believe I've never seen it, because Graham Greene is one of my favorite writers. Thank you so much for the introduction. I hope I can find it somewhere, because I'd love to see it.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Oh .. the best has already been mentioned
"Gilbert Grape"

Another movie while set in another country with same director and same actor is CHOCOLATE.

Not the best Depp movie, but a cute story and Alred Molina playing the mayor is such a good bad man. Him giving into temptation is a moment in itself.



simple like so

Chocolat

Oh, I very much enjoyed this one! Thank you for mentioning it. And there are so many others from countries besides America. I hope everyone knows that all countries are welcome. Thanks again for the reply. And glad to see another fan of GILBERT GRAPE.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Nobody's Fool, the Paul Newman film.

Nobody's Fool

This is another one that I really like and especially like Paul Newman in it. It was directed by Robert Benton, whose film, Places in the Heart, I mentioned in my first post. He captures small-town life beautifully, doubtless because he grew up in one.

Nobody's Fool

Oh, another I just thought of is Beautiful Girls.

Beautiful Girls

Haven't seen Beautiful Girls, but it seems like it would qualify. Your mention of it for some reason reminds me of another, Racing with the Moon (1984), starring Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, and Nicolas Cage. Not a great film, but a good one with a wonderful northern California small town location.

Thanks for your posts.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Pleasantville (1998)







😺 Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 🤨 Let's go, Brandon! 🤨 Try that in a small town.

Pleasantville

I haven't seen Pleasantville since it was released, but I remember liking it. I honestly don't remember the small-town part very well, but my memory's not what it used to be. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Thanks for the post.

Pleasantville

You're welcome. I thought it was only fair, and I remember very little about it.
I think that says something about the film.



😺 Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 🤨 Let's go, Brandon! 🤨 Try that in a small town.

Pleasantville

I remember very little about it. I think that says something about the film.

Yes, it probably does.

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Pleasantville



😺 Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 🤨 Let's go, Brandon! 🤨 Try that in a small town.

Re: Films about small-town life.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Tremors
Signs
The Hateful Right
The Good Son
Dazed and Confused
Boys Don't Cry
Freeway
Fargo
Monster
Gremlins
Breaking Away (1979)
North Country
Pleasantville
E.T.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Mud
Crazy Joe
My Own Private Idaho
Thirteen
Field of Dreams
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Hell or High Water
Brokeback Mountain
Winter's Bone
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Halloween
Friday the 13th 1-7, 9
Deliverance
Slither
Last House on the Left/I Spit on Your Grave - I don't recommend these two.


Also a pre-Godfather Al Pacino movie where he has a girlfriend and sells drugs. Can't think of the name of it.

Love is like a tree: it grows by itself, roots itself deeply in our being, and continues to flourish over a heart in ruin.

What a wonderful list!

So many great titles, of which my particular favorites are:

What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Boys Don't Cry, Breaking Away (1979), Field of Dreams, and Brokeback Mountain (though I love many others).

Thanks so much for all these titles. And sorry I can't help you with the Pacino film. Will have to research that and get back to you.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Super 8
Friday Night Lights
Far from Home ('89)
The Bridges of Madison County
Napoleon Dynamite
Winter's Bone
October Sky
The Sandlot
Smash Palace
Fargo
My Girl
It's a Wonderful Life
Say Anything
The Man in the Moon
Fried Green Tomatoes
McCabe and Mrs. Miller

Apparently, stupid people don't know they're stupid.

Another great list

And my particular favorites of those are:

The Bridges of Madison County, October Sky, It's a Wonderful Life, The Man in the Moon, Fried Green Tomatoes, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller

Thanks for the great list. I haven't thought of many of these in quite a long time. I think The Man in the Moon is a very special, underrated film. Reese Witherspoon's first film and director Robert Mulligan's last. For that alone it merits more attention.

Re: Films about small-town life.

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird

Oh, absolutely!! Probably the definitive film about small town life in America in a certain time. I'm surprised no one mentioned it before; surprised I didn't mention it myself. I love everything about it. Thanks so much for not letting it fall through the cracks

Re: Films about small-town life.

Remember the Titans
A Time to Kill

Mephistopheles is just beneath and he's reaching up to grab me.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Lone Star. (1996)

Lone Star

I saw this when it was released and found it very moving. So many good performances in it and a really interesting, if rather disturbing story. John Sayles is a very good writer/director. I always appreciate his films.

Re: Films about small-town life.

Breaking Away (1979) - Sweet and moving teen coming-of-age drama that astutely pegs the socioeconomic dynamics of a small college town in which there's a clear delineation between the haves (i.e., the rich college kids) and have nots (i.e., the working class locals). Moreover, the main character Dave's key ambition to become a champion bike racer gives this film a certain universal appeal because it captures the aspirations of any given small town kid with a deep-seated need and desire to amount to something and be somebody in life that goes beyond the limited options and opportunities of the small town he resides in.

Yes, this is really me.

Breaking Away

One of my favorites. Thanks for the great post.

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At Close Range

I so wanted to love this film, but just I couldn't get there. It has a wonderful cast and a really good story, though maybe not as well written as it could have been. Not sure why I couldn't warm to it; may have been the direction. But it's certainly an interesting concept about a bit of the darker side of small town life.

Thinking of the subject in those terms, I want to mention one of the greats in that regard: Shadow of a Doubt (1943), which I think may be Hitchcock's best film; I know that it's his personal favorite. It's so great not only because of his stellar direction, but also because of Thornton Wilder's great script, which was so much deeper than most Hitchcock scripts and gave him so much to work with in terms of psychology. I think its the only film without a McGuffin; in this case he didn't need one.

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