The Great Santini (1979)
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The story
In 1962, Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meechum, a US Marine Corps pilot known as "the Great Santini," moves his family to the military base town of Beaufort, South Carolina. While his wife Lillian is docile and his children Ben and Mary Anne are accustomed to his stern discipline, the family dynamic is strained by Meechum's temper and drinking. Conflict arises when Ben becomes a dominant basketball player, leading to increasingly rough and humiliating physical training sessions from his father. The family must navigate the pressures of military life and Meechum's intense expectations in a peacetime setting.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meechum, a Marine pilot nicknamed "the Great Santini," moves his family to Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1962. His wife Lillian is tolerant of his drinking and temper, while his children Ben and Mary Anne adapt to his strict discipline. Ben excels at basketball, but Meechum subjects him to brutal, humiliating training sessions. During a school game, Meechum orders Ben to strike a rival player, resulting in Ben's ejection and dismissal from the team. Ben later befriends Toomer Smalls, a young black man whose mother is the family housekeeper. When Toomer is shot by a local racist, Ben defies his father's orders to help him, but Toomer dies. Meechum eventually backs down when confronted with Ben's moral courage. After seeing Ben and Mary Anne off to their prom, Meechum goes on a routine mission where his engines fail. He chooses to crash his plane into the sea to save the nearby town. The family leaves Beaufort at 3:00 a.m., with Ben at the wheel, just as they had arrived.
- First release year
- 1979
- Runtime (minutes)
- 115
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Lewis John Carlino
- Writers
- Lewis John Carlino · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Robert Duvall · Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meechum; Blythe Danner · Lillian; Michael O'Keefe · Ben
- Genres
- drama
- Themes
- dysfunctional family; military discipline; moral courage; father-son conflict
- Tone and mood
- dramatic; tense
- Setting
- Beaufort, South Carolina, 1962
- Premise and plot tags
- military; sports; family drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1976 novel by Pat Conroy
- Reception
- The film was not a financial success but earned critical praise and several major film industry nominations. It was well received by critics, with a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 95% · review count: 20
- Production trivia
- The title character was based on Pat Conroy's father.; The film's aircraft were changed from F-8 Crusaders in the book to F-4 Phantom IIs.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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