It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

John Sayles directs "Return of the Seacaucus Seven". The plot? Seven friends are arrested in the 1960s for carrying marijuana to a peace protest. Ten years later, the friends hold a reunion at a New Hampshire summer home. Now all in their thirties, the friends reminisce about the past, reflect on their present lives and brood over long lost lovers.Look closer, though, and "Return" is about the death of a certain type of political activism, or rather, the morphing of counterculturalism into 1980's Reaganism. And so the film is filled with protest singers now shunned by the city, left wingers now working as speech-writers in a Democratic senator's office, radicals who are now conformists, and hippies who now find themselves fully ingrained "in the system". All of these characters are mirrored to another who seems frozen in time, desperately trying to preserve the past. The message: neoliberal capitalism won and the left's become hopelessly moribund.On another level, the "growing pains" of our cast mirror that of the film's director, John Sayles. Sayles has always been more of a writer than a director, and nowhere is this more evident than "Return of the Seacaucus Seven", Sayles' debut. Packed with talking heads, unconvincing dialogue, superficially sketched characters and ugly shots, "Return" is filmed theatre and has aged terribly.But this film was nevertheless an awkward phase Sayles had to go through. Between roughly 1989 and 1999, Sayles made a string of interesting films, but it would take him roughly the decade before this to hone his technique, gain experience and learn how to properly marry his love for prose to any kind of strong visual sensibility. Of course "Return" also hints at Sayles future career trajectory: that of an ineffectual radical, stuck in the past.7/10 – No one remembers it today, but this flick once shook up the indie circuit. Sayles directed, wrote, edited and acted in the film, raised 45,000 dollars to produce it and cast all the unknown actors himself. It would go on to inspire Lawrence Kasdan's "The Big Chill", and a string of other baby boomer movies and television shows about "thirty something year olds".

John Sayles made this film for only $60,000 and only one person in the film had any previous acting experience. It's just amazing how well this turned out. It's about a couple (Mike and Katie) who invite all their college friends to spending the weekend in a cabin in New Hampshire. They all spent their college years as radicals...and now they're all turning 30. We learn who they were and how they are now. No big catastrophes or changes are made with any of the characters--we just see how these former radicals are now dealing with life. Sounds boring but I found it absolutely fascinating. The acting is all natural and realistic--I found myself actually believing these people all have been friends for 10+ years! The dialogue was sharp and on target...but John Sayles has always been a master at writing great scripts.I was in my first year of college when this came out. It was a HUGE hit in Boston (I believe it played at one independent cinema for over a year!) and I saw it again and again. Even though I was too young to really identify with the characters (their moaning about turning 30 struck me as silly) I was fascinated by their characters and situations. They do discuss issues that were relevant in 1980--that's probably what I found so interesting. Seeing it now (28 years later) it's dated (of course) but still fascinating. The references to late 70s issues, politicians and life style may confuse younger viewers. Also it was interesting to see that casual sex and drug taking is shown as being OK! I also liked the surprising and casual male nudity in a skinny dipping sequence. (None of the female actors get nude but it seems the guys had no problem). This was later remade (sort of) in Hollywood as "The Big Chill". "The Big Chill" is an excellent COMMERCIAL film...this is an excellent independent film. This made John Sayles and is also David Strathairn's first film! Absolutely fascinating motion picture. I wish Sayles had revisited these characters again in 1990 and 2000--by the end I was really wondering what happened to this people. A one of a kind and a groundbreaking independent film that was very profitable. A must see!

Okay, I watched this just now, many, many years after seeing The Big Chill. Maybe my expectations were too high, maybe I've seen too many other good movies by Sayles. I have to say I think this movie is seriously overrated.I understand why people would prefer this over TBC. The script is not bad, the camera work is not bad, the editing is not bad. A lot of the dialog is smart. Unfortunately, when the dialog isn't smart, it's downright smarmy, completely off the mark. But what makes this a truly inferior movie is the ACTING! Jon Lovitz's "It's ACTING!" came to mind no more than ten minutes into this movie. I couldn't get past the atrocious delivery, intonation, pacing, and fake emotion of just about every actor in this movie. Just really, really bad. There's no way to soft pedal. Even the (now) reliable David Strathairn will make you wince. I couldn't help thinking that this is one movie Sayles could remake and greatly improve upon just by using good, professional actors.So, if you're like me, someone who actually thinks TBC is a good movie, and you've heard The Return of the Secaucus 7 praised as infinitely superior . . . lower your expectations. Perhaps you won't be quite so put off like I was.

This movie is wonderful. I never tire of watching it. The dialog rings true and the actors have a feeling of long friendship that makes this movie truly enjoyable. This movie is head and shoulders above most movies made in the last 20 years. I am not saying this movie is the best movie ever made I am ranking it by how much enjoyment I have garnered from it. Since viewing this movie I have sought out every Sayles movie and never been disappointed.