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Movies / On DVD / Bright Lights, Big City
Bright Lights, Big City

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Bright Lights, Big City (1988)

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65 %
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Reviews Counted: 17

Fresh: 11

Rotten:6

Average Rating: 5.6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: The film adaptation of Jay McInerney's best-selling novel stars Michael J. Fox as yuppie New Yorker Jamie Conway, an aspiring writer whose life has fallen apart: His mother (Dianne Wiest) has died,... The film adaptation of Jay McInerney's best-selling novel stars Michael J. Fox as yuppie New Yorker Jamie Conway, an aspiring writer whose life has fallen apart: His mother (Dianne Wiest) has died, and his model wife (Phoebe Cates) has just left him. Nightly, Jamie seeks solace in cocaine, alcohol, and the glittery nightclub scene, becoming completely immersed in the decadence and debauchery of 1980s upwardly mobile Manhattan. With the help of his hard-partying debutante friend, Tad (Kiefer Sutherland), Jamie can barely see straight, making it increasingly difficult to make his way to his unfulfilling job as a fact checker at a downtown lifestyle magazine. As Jamie becomes more and more consumed with his nightly routine and his own severe depression, he is fired from his job and forced to make a choice: either continue his downward spiral or examine his life--and change it for the better. BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY is a moving drama that colorfully explores the vivid era that writer Jay McInerney helped to immortalize. Fox shines, especially in a long monologue that is fascinating to watch. [More]

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Swoosie Kurtz

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Swoosie Kurtz, Jason Robards, Maria Pitillo

Director: James Bridges

Director: James Bridges

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Aug 5, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Bright Lights, Big City

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Flyblown, devoid of pace and heat; it's such a mortician's slab that it's hard to even tell if the Fox performance is wasted on it, though I suspect it is.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
11/09/08
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

truth be told, nothing much happens other than a series of increasingly mortifying benders

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
06/18/08
Don Willmott
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
02/18/07
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Pure '80s rock 'n' roll fun from start to finish.

comment Comment
11/02/06
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
06/15/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

muddled but engaging

comment Comment
09/19/04
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Even when the story lingers at times, the central character is played so strongly that you can still stay with the film.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
08/22/04
Ryan Cracknell
Apollo Guide

No review available.

comment Comment
02/08/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mr. Bridges may not have breathed fire into this material, but he has preserved most of its better qualities. He has treated it with intelligence, respect and no undue reverence, assembling a coherent film that resists any hint of exploitation.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This slice of New York yuppie angst is watchable, but forgettable.

comment Comment
03/19/03
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

Moves at a snails pace, but it's worthwhile sticking in for performances like this

comment Comment
09/18/02
Clint Morris
Moviehole

No review available.

comment Comment
07/30/02
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Not unlike its cousin, "Less Than Zero," this one's slick, well-acted, surface-deep, and enjoyably disturbing.

comment Comment
07/27/02
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

There is no question that this is Fox's film, and the range of emotion he shows, the edginess that he brings to the role will doubtless surprise those who think of him strictly as Alex P. Keaton or Marty McFly.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Along the gruesome road to self-discovery, Bright Lights offers some entertaining, episodic, danceable highlights.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie is like a Porsche outfitted with a lawn mower engine; there's not even enough juice to get the machine out of the driveway.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Hal Hinson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fox is very good in the central role (he has a long drunken monologue that is the best thing he has ever done in a movie).

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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Latest News for Bright Lights, Big City

April 03, 2009: Weekly Ketchup: Sony announces Men in Black III
Right smack in the middle of this week was April Fool's Day, so some stories this week had to be always be viewed with a grain of salt, but there was indeed real movie news. ... More...

April 01, 2009: MGM Plans Bright Lights, Big City Remake Opens in new window
MGM has hired "The OC" creator Josh Schwartz to write and direct another adaptation of Jay McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City." More...

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