Bright Lights, Big City

The challenge posed in translating Jay McInerney's smash 1984 best­seller into a film is the author's clever use of second-person narration ("You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar...") Wisely, the filmmakers chose to retain the unique flavor of McInerney's writing by the liberal use of voiceover narration. Unfortunately, the voice they chose belongs to Michael J. Fox. Fox plays Jamie Conway, a struggling writer who works in the factual verification department for a literary magazine (reportedly based on the New Yorker.) His mother (a small, but beautiful, performance by Dianne Wiest) has passed away. His wife, Amanda (Phoebe Cates), has left him to more actively pursue her modeling career. And his best friend Tad Allagash (Kiefer Sutherland) aids and abets Jamie in his prodigious consumption of cocaine and alcohol. The film follows Jamie through one particularly hellish week as he skips down the white powder road to self-destruction. Fox tries very hard, but because of his baby face, baby voice, and television image, watching him hoover a line of coke is sort of like seeing Bambi urinate. Act and actor are incongruous. Sutherland, as the shallow Allagash, is much more believable. Less than it could have been, but more than was expected, Bright Lights, Big City is recommended for libraries with large fiction collections. (R. Pitman) [DVD Review—Sept. 16, 2008—MGM, 108 min., R, $14.98—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1988's Bright Lights, Big City (Special Edition) sports a great transfer with DVD extras including two audio commentaries (the first by author/screenwriter Jay McInerney; the second by cinematographer Gordon Willis), the production featurettes 'Big City Lights' (15 min.) and 'Jay McInerney's The Light Within' (12 min.), and a still photo gallery. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid ‘80s flick.] [Blu-ray Review—Dec. 11, 2018—MVD Entertainment Group, 108 min., R, Blu-ray: $29.99—Making its latest appearance on Blu-ray, 1988’s Bright Lights, Big City features a nice transfer with LPCM 2.0 audio. Extras include audio commentaries (one by author/screenwriter Jay McInerney; the other by cinematographer Gordon Willis), the behind-the-scenes featurettes 'Big City Lights' (15 min.) and 'Jay McInerney’s The Light Within' featurette (12 min.), and a photo gallery. Bottom line: a fine edition of this adaptation of Jay McInerney’s touchstone ‘80s novel.]