Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates, Judge Rein-
hold, and Sean Penn as the stoned surfer. Nicolas
Cage, Eric Stoltz, and Forest Whitaker also have
small roles.See alsomain entry.
Gandhi(Goldcrest Films International/Indo-British
Films/International Film Investors/National Film
Development Corporation of India/Columbia;
dir. Richard Attenborough) Attenborough’s bi-
ography of the Indian independence leader (Ben
Kingsley) won eight Oscars, including Best Pic-
ture, Best Director, and Best Actor.
Shoot the Moon(MGM/United Artists; dir. Alan
Parker) Influenced by the considerations of mar-
riage and adultery in the films of Ingmar Berg-
man, Bo Goldman’s perceptive screenplay exam-
ines middle-class mores. Albert Finney and Diane
Keaton give outstanding performances as the un-
happy Marin County, California, couple.
Sophie’s Choice(Associated Film Distribution/ITC
Entertainment/Keith Barish Productions/Uni-
versal; dir. Alan J. Pakula) Meryl Streep won her
second Oscar as a Polish refugee with a shocking
secret in 1947 Brooklyn. The moody cinematog-
raphy of Néstor Almendros highlights Pakula’s
adaptation of William Styron’s 1979 novel.
Tootsie(Mirage/Punch Productions/Columbia; dir.
Sydney Pollack) Dustin Hoffman plays a charac-
ter loosely based on his experiences as a hard-luck
New York actor. Unlike the real Hoffman, his
character dresses as a woman to win a role on a
television soap opera. One of the decade’s most
popular comedies features several outstanding
performances, including Bill Murray as the ac-
tor’s playwright roommate and director Pollack
as his frustrated agent. The film was nominated
for ten Oscars but won only one, for Jessica Lange’s
supporting performance as the confused object
of the actor’s affections.
Tro n(Buena Vista/Walt Disney; dir. Steven Lisber-
ger) A computer programmer (Jeff Bridges) be-
comes trapped in a video game in the first major
film to deal with this new medium.See alsomain
entry.
The Verdict(Zanuck Company/Twentieth Century-
Fox; dir. Sidney Lumet) Paul Newman gives one
of his finest performances as an aging, failed Bos-
ton lawyer given a chance to redeem himself in a
complicated malpractice case. James Mason is his
adversary and Charlotte Rampling a woman with a
secret. David Mamet adapted Barry Reed’s novel.
1983
The Big Chill(Carson Production Group/Delphi
Productions/Columbia; dir. Lawrence Kasdan)
Kasdan followedBody Heatwith an even bigger
commercial success about a group of baby boom-
ers, including Glenn Close, William Hurt, and
Kevin Kline, who examine their dissatisfaction
with their lives.See alsomain entry.
Flashdance (Polygram/Paramount; dir. Adrian
Lyne) The story of a Pittsburgh welder (Jennifer
Beals) who performs erotic dances in a bar after
work won an Oscar for the title song.See alsomain
entry.
Local Hero(Enigma Productions/Goldcrest Films
International/Warner Bros.; dir. Bill Forsyth)
Houston oilmen Peter Riegert and Burt Lancas-
ter visit a small Scottish fishing village planning
to exploit it and find themselves unexpectedly
changed by their experiences. Forsyth’s delight-
ful film may be the decade’s most charming.
El Norte(Independent Productions/Island Alive;
Cinecom Pictures; dir. Gregory Nava) Two Guate-
malans (Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez and David Villal-
pando) flee the oppression of their government
and travel through Mexico into California to be-
gin new lives. Nava’s film, cowritten with Anna
Thomas, is one of the most notable treatments of
the hardships faced by illegal immigrants.
Return of the Jedi(Lucasfilm/Twentieth Century-
Fox; dir. Richard Marquand) Jabba the Hutt and
the child-friendly Ewoks make their first appear-
ances as Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and
friends continue theStar Warssaga and their bat-
tle against the Empire. Its special effects received
an Oscar.
The Right Stuff(Ladd Company/Warner Bros.; dir.
Philip Kaufman) Kaufman’s adaptation of Tom
Wolfe’s book about the first astronauts may be the
decade’s best fact-based film. Stealing the film
from Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard, Ed Harris as
John Glenn, Fred Ward as Gus Grissom, and Den-
nis Quaid as Gordon Cooper is Sam Shepard as
Chuck Yeager, the pilot considered to be too reck-
less for space travel. It won four Oscars.
Risky Business(Geffen Pictures/Warner Bros.; dir.
Paul Brickman) Tom Cruise became a star play-
ing a Chicago high school senior involved with a
prostitute (Rebecca De Mornay) while his par-
ents are out of town. The decade’s best look
at sexual awakening and the mores of upper-The Eighties in America Entertainment: Major Films of the 1980’s 1077