Bright Lights, Big City (film)

1988 American film by James Bridges

Bright Lights, Big City is a 1988 American tragic drama film directed by James Bridges, starring Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Dianne Wiest and Jason Robards, and based on the novel by Jay McInerney, who also wrote the screenplay. It was the last film directed by Bridges, who died in 1993.

The film follows one week in the life of 24 year old Jamie Conway. Originally from Pennsylvania, Jamie works as a fact checker for a major New York City magazine. His nights partying with his glib and wealthy best friend Tad and his addiction to cocaine have made Jamie frequently late for work and not finishing assignments on time. As a result, he is on the verge of getting fired by his stern boss, Clara Tillinghast. His wife Amanda, a fast rising model, has just left him. He is also still reeling from the death of his mother from cancer a year earlier, and actively follows a tabloid story about a pregnant woman in a coma, also frequently daydreaming that he can talk to the woman's "Coma Baby" while repeatedly asking him to come out of his mother's body. Jamie's story captures some of the glossy chaos and decadence of NYC nightlife during the 1980s, while also showing that he finds himself desperately trying to escape the pain in his life. Jamie is asked to go on a date with Tad's cousin Vicky as a favor to Tad so he could, in turn, have a fling with a woman he claims is a Penthouse Pet. Jamie avoids phone calls from his younger brother Michael, who has come to the city to look for him, and goes out with Vicky, who is new in town, with both connecting easily and feeling comfortable around each other, which encourages Jamie to not use cocaine for a whole night, as long as Vicky is around. After acknowledging their mutual attraction, Vicky returns to her College dorm upstate, sharing a kiss with Jamie before leaving, and making him feel genuinely happy for the first time in years. After getting fired from his job, Jamie goes on a further downward spiral with more substance and alcohol abuse. Jamie's maternal co worker Megan attempts to help him find a new job, as well as open up during a dinner about his troubled life and the reason Amanda left him. Jamie reveals that he had a hard time adjusting to the big city at first, and balancing his marriage to Amanda, the death of his mother and his new job left him with writer's block (he has been trying to finish a novel for years) and a strained relation with Amanda, who was becoming famous as a model and abandoned him to pursue a more glamorous and upscaled life. Michael arrives at his apartment and lets himself in, surprising Jamie when he comes in second. Jamie reacts angrily at Michael's claim that he has been ignoring his family since the death of their mother, and refuses to talk about his life or feelings. During the argument, Tad calls Jamie and asks him to come to a party, and when Jamie refuses Tad goads him revealing that the party is at Amanda's (and her new photographer husband) house in New York. At the party, Tad is so intoxicated that he doesn't seem to realize that a woman he is flirting with is a man in drag. Jamie confronts Amanda and she repulses him by asking, "So, how's it going?". Jamie breaks down laughing uncontrollably at the question and retreats to the bathroom with Tad's help when his nose starts to bleed. He finally decides to open up and come clean with himself before he ends up either dead or in jail. Jamie phones Vicky using an adjacent phone to the bathroom and starts talking, revealing to Vicky that he and his brother Michael helped their dying mother kill herself to end her suffering. Vicky offers Jamie empathy and calm, and tells him to call her any time he needs to talk. Jamie then exits the bathroom and declines Tad's offer to spend more time together, declaring out loud "You know what I just realized? You and Amanda are perfect for each other", and leaving the party. Jamie wanders the streets until dawn, when he stops by a big bakery's loading zone and trades his sunglasses for a baguette. He then walks down to the pier and stares at the city and the river, while thinking and deciding that today will be a better day to get his life back on track. As the story ends, a news clipping of the newborn "Coma Baby" is shown.

In 1984, Robert Lawrence, a vice president at Columbia Pictures, championed Jay McInerney's novel against resistance from older executives. He felt that the book spoke to his generation and described it as "Graduate, with a little bit of Lost Weekend". He met with McInerney while he was still working on the screenplay. Tom Cruise was offered first refusal on the script while McInerney and Schumacher were attempting to capture the novel's distinctive voice. McInerney, Cruise and Schumacher scouted locations in New York City and checked out the atmosphere of the club scenes described in the novel. Fox's casting increased the budget to $15 million and principal photography was moved to New York City. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews. In his review for Newsweek, David Ansen wrote, "Bright Lights isn't an embarrassment, like Less Than Zero; it's a smooth, professional job. But when it's over you may shrug your shoulders and ask, "Is that all?" Janet Maslin, wrote in her review for The New York Times, "Mr. Bridges may not have breathed fire into this material, but he has preserved most of its better qualities. He has treated it with intelligence, respect and no undue reverence, assembling a coherent film that resists any hint of exploitation". In his review for The Washington Post, Hal Hinson criticized Fox's performance, stating that he "was the wrong actor for the job. Fox, who in The Secret of My Succe$s showed a gift for light comedy, is too stylized a performer for the heavier stuff; he has no natural weight. In addition, Fox shows a reluctance to let the audience see him in an unflattering light". However, Roger Ebert praised the actor's performance: "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)". Time magazine's Richard Schickel felt that the film, "arrives looking like something that has been kicking around too long in the dead letter office".

A special edition DVD version of Bright Lights, Big City was released on September 2, 2008. In her review for The Washington Post, Jen Chaney wrote, "In the end, that's what is most disappointing about this DVD. What could have become a compelling look at a seminal novel of the 1980s and its rocky path through Hollywood ends up being a rudimentary release with a couple of decent commentary tracks and two forgettable featurettes".

On July 31, 2010, the story's author stated in an NPR All Things Considered interview that Gossip Girl co creator Josh Schwartz would remake an updated version of the film.