Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980)

Complete: John Sayles

A montage of mugshots opens John Sayles’s debut directorial effort, which he financed from the scriptwriting proceeds for several creature features (Piranha; Alligator) and other primarily Roger Corman-overseen productions (e.g. the Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven sci-fi riff Battle Beyond the Stars). Youthful bonds of friendship are implied and solidified via the carceral state’s front-facing/side-gazing inventorying. Smash cut, at the end, to a close-up of a toilet being plunged.

As in Alligator, a shitter sets the story in motion, though this state-of-the-(dis)union character drama proves ultimately gentle where Sayles’s grindhouse projects go thematically and aesthetically blunt.