Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

The Big Bang (1989)

Director: James Toback

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

James Toback has his own theory about the universe to set against Genesis and the Big Bang: 'It all started with the orgasmic explosion of God,' he announces with revelatory fervour at the beginning of this film, which starts with his pitch to independent financier Joe Kanter: it's got no script, no actors, no story, just a bunch of people talking about their lives and beliefs. And this is what we get: a gangster who had a bit part in GoodFellas explains that the best day of his life was when he fell out of love; a basketball star momentarily lays aside his macho bluff to reveal how his wife committed suicide. Movie jock Don Simpson is opaque, Auschwitz survivor Barbara Traub reflective, and no, painter Charles Lassiter couldn't kill even in self-defence, he's more the victim type. Toback asks the big questions, and elicits honest, thoughtful responses from his 19 subjects. His quietly composed picture engages right from its exuberant, staccato opening to a subtle, affecting coda. Sex, love, life, death and the whole damn thing...

Author: TCh 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.