Bright Lights, Big City
Bright Lights, Big City

Watch Bright Lights, Big City Online Free

- 57/100 based on 8,733 votes

Jamie Conway (Michael J. Fox) is an aspiring writer and yuppie living in New York City who seeks oblivion in cocaine and the glittery nightclub scene as his life falls apart (his wife leaves him, his mother dies, etc.). With his hard-partying friend Tad Allagash (Kiefer Sutherland) tagging along with him during their nights out, Jamie finds it increasingly difficult to show up every day at his unfulfilling job as a fact checker for a literary Manhattan magazine.... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Bright Lights, Big City:

Michael J. Fox
Kiefer Sutherland
Phoebe Cates
Swoosie Kurtz
Frances Sternhagen
Tracy Pollan

Full Plot Details

Jamie Conway (Michael J. Fox) is an aspiring writer and yuppie living in New York City who seeks oblivion in cocaine and the glittery nightclub scene as his life falls apart (his wife leaves him, his mother dies, etc.). With his hard-partying friend Tad Allagash (Kiefer Sutherland) tagging along with him during their nights out, Jamie finds it increasingly difficult to show up every day at his unfulfilling job as a fact checker for a literary Manhattan magazine.

Review & Comments

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Movie Reviews

Chicago Sun-Times - 9/10 by Roger EbertFox 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). To his credit, he never seems to be having fun as he journeys through club land. Few do, for long. If you know someone like Jamie, take him to this movie, and don't let him go to the john.
Washington Post - 8/10 by Desson ThomsonDirector James Bridges (a last-minute replacement for Joyce Chopra) infuses this Manhattan drug-recovery tale with an appropriate rush of humor, pounding dance-club music and breakneck momentum.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) - 8/10 by Jay ScottIt may not capture Mr. McInerney's novel completely or even succeed in standing on its own, but it does go a long way toward bringing the book to life. If Mr. McInerney's readers think it incomplete, they should also find it enjoyably familiar.
Chicago Tribune - 6/10 by Gene SiskelAn insipid '80s nostalgia piece really, held together by Fox's performance and several neat turns from his support.
Chicago Reader - 6/10 by Jonathan RosenbaumA hollow view of hollowness with a very polished surface.
The A.V. Club - 6/10 by Nathan RabinToo bad he's caught in a movie that all too accurately captures the tenor of its time with its slick, superficial, coked-up, money-drunk emptiness.
Chicago Tribune - 5/10 by Dave KehrThe movie is like a Porsche outfitted with a lawn mower engine; there's not even enough juice to get the machine out of the driveway.
Los Angeles Times - 4/10 by Sheila BensonWhile Bridges is a capital stylist, "Bright Lights" needed a great deal more than style. (Real emotion, for one thing. Believability might also have been nice.) And while Fox is puppyish and charming, his character, Jamie, has to go through a real epiphany during the film's weeklong time frame and Mr. Fox is hard-pressed to suggest a two-Excedrin headache.
User Review - 5/10 by DawdlingPoetThis movie is quite slow and depressing - the story surrounding Jamie and why he does what he does during his free time takes a while to build up. Michael J Fox plays a seemingly arrogant young adult trying to live it up in the 'big city' while also trying to maintain a fairly high flying job as a writer/journalist. This movie was released in the late 1980s so its very much set in the world of yuppies - hard work and even harder partying - you get the idea. The main appeal of this movie is the cast, with, as previously mentioned, Michael J Fox and Kiefer Sutherland playing the main roles of Jamie and Tad. The movie is frustrating to watch as you can see that Jamie is clearly using his time off to preoccupy himself in a way to block things and to convince himself that he's on the up but its the question of what it is he's running away from, that leaves you wondering - there are very subtle clues throughout which don't really give much away, its not until close to the end that they come together to make more sense but you could be mistaken for doubting the authenticity of the flashbacks, given the state of mind Jamie must be in at the time. I found this movie quite bland, dull and depressing for at least the first half, until we started to uncover more about Jamie's past, though (if anyones seen it then correct me if im wrong but as far as I can remember) we get barely any background info on Kiefers character, Tad. Ultimately, I suppose this movie works if you care to care about Jamie and want to discover what has led him to his current lifestyle, which I think its fair to say takes a nosedive. Fox gives a then usual quite energetic and expressive performance and I think he does quite well to portray someone who appears one way but is really struggling behind the scenes. I should mention that there are various scenes showing drugs being inhaled and as such its not recommended viewing for younger or particularly impressionable teenagers in a sense I suppose, not that they'd necessarily be *that* interested in it I suppose,given that its over 20 years old now and so its not entirely modern or 'cool' I guess. It could also be said in another sense that the movie gives out the message that you ultimately can't run away entirely from your past and your family, it'll catch up with you and you don't come off very well but has that stopped people from leading such a life? not all of them, no. I think the movie works to an extent, there are some shots zooming in on press cuttings on Jamies fridge door about 'dead coma baby' making you wonder what relevance that has, some of the stories that are told to girls Tad tries to get on Jamie's side when their at clubs in town, little bits here and there making you curious about his background, about what the truth is, especially in relation to his mysterious estranged (or has she passed on?) wife. The problem is, its just that bit too slow and dreary in the 'middle section' I felt, when Jamie was trying to finish his work assignment, I felt that it dragged a bit and I wasn't too bothered about watching at that point, though it picked up more towards the end. This isn't, as I've said before, the kind of movie I'd necessarily choose, having added it to my rental list due to the cast, the fact I'd never heard of it I thought it might be nice to see something other than yet another blockbuster action movie or average comedy but mainly as im becoming woefully low in titles(!) (side note - anyone who can recommend a movie I might not have heard of, please get in touch - thanks!) but I think overall its ok, by the end it feels like there's been a story there and there's maybe a moral message or two, the performances are good all things considered but its certainly not a movie I'd say I felt amazed me in any way. I think this is a good movie 'of its time', if that makes sense(?). I can't think what else I can say about it to be honest though...I don't think anything really stood out otherwise and I wouldn't call it a particularly memorable movie, although I don't think that necessarily means it was a shoddily made movie, its ok. I'd say that if your fans of the cast then its worth a watch - its fairly decent but its not a movie I'd go out of my way to watch, so I guess overall I'd say no, its not worth paying a great deal for, if that makes sense.

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