Chain Letters (1985)

Out of the Rappaport movies I have seen so far, this one is the most fully realized, the one that most feels like a complete film. It is also his most emotional and socially conscious film that I have seen thus far. Chain Letters is a surreal, bizarre, and gut-wrenchingly funny/tragic work. A chain letter circles its way among upper-class Manhattanites who are all connected in a sort of Altmanesque manner. There is a paranoid Vietnam veteran who works ceaselessly to stop government conspiracies, a macho and closeted gay man who loves guns, a college biology professor constantly chasing after an old flame, a washed up soap star who likes big dicks and drinks too much. All of the signature Rappaport elements are here; Brechtian detachment, colorful set pieces, and sardonic dialogue, but there is also a level of emotion that was not present in his previous work. This is an enchanting, poetic, and oftentimes magical film. It is a shame Rappaport never made another feature like this, and with his declaration of retirement I doubt we will ever see anything quite like this again.