Between the Lines

The Back Bay Mainline is an underground newspaper founded in Boston in the 1960s. The staff is still there: a critic, a reporter, a photographer, a sales manager, and an executive trying to find advertising. But the year is now the 1970s. What they write no longer has any purchase, the wages are unpaid, and the rumour is going round that the paper will be sold to a media corporation. Nobody knows what to do and everyone is busy with their own relationships. Joan Micklin Silver's film is about the moment a generation's energy runs out. The narrative builds no large event; it proceeds through meetings, conversations at the bar, and relationships coming apart. The paper itself is used as a character. John Heard, Lindsay Crouse, Jeff Goldblum and Bruno Kirby are in the cast, most of them early in their careers. The film is one of the early examples of American independent cinema. Who it's for: Viewers who like 1970s American independent cinema, narratives about journalism, and drama with large ensembles. Who it's not for: The plot is thin and there are many characters. Some matters stay closed for a viewer without the political background of the period.