This is about 8 parts BS and 2 parts true.
I grew up in Montana and spent summers across the lake from Big Fork. My parents have a summer house on the Lake and live there in the summers. I go back every year. Here’s the Straight Dope on Big Fork:
Flathead Lake is about 30 miles long by 15 miles wide. It’s the largest natural fresh-water lake west of the Mississippi. The major towns on the Lake form a Christian cross – Somers at the north end of the Lake, Polson at the south end, Lakeside about a third of the way down the Lake on the west shore, and Big Fork across the Lake from Lakeside on the east shore.
Lakeside and Somers are basically wide spots in the road. Polson is the biggest town on the Lake, but is in the less desirable and less touristy south end (and on the rez). Big Fork is smaller than Polson, and is the wealthiest most touristy town on the Lake. There is a very nice downtown with boutique shops, restaurants, and galleries. There are several very nice developments, the largest of which is Eagle Bend, a Jack Nicklaus designed golf-course community. There are no clubs (AFAIK), but there are numerous very nice restaurants, though many are only open seasonally. As for “Broadway shows” – Big Fork does have a very well-regarded summer-stock theater right downtown. Beauty and the Beast is playing this year. Being summer stock, its play list tends to be heavy on musicals and light comedies, with few if any dramas or heavy stuff. There are no art museums, but there are bunches of galleries. There’s also a summer concert series.
The “streets roll up” analysis isn’t really weekday/weekend as much as seasonal. Big Fork goes full-bore in the summer and slows down a ton in the winter. There is a vibrant year-round community as well, though it is much more working class. This is changing as well as more people retire to the area. (Eagle Bend has a whole neighborhood of houses with Prevost garages – multi-million dollar homes with oversized garages for million dollar RVs.)
Kalispell, MT, a town of 20,000, is 17 miles away. Missoula, the university town and IMO the nicest town in Montana, is 90 miles away. Glacier National Park is 25 miles away. Whitefish and the Big Mountain alpine ski resort is 40 miles away. And, not incidentally, the Flathead Valley is freakin’ gorgeous – some of the most beautiful scenery in the U.S.
In terms of flavor and economy, I would compare Big Fork to Sisters, Oregon, or Sedona, Arizona, if you’re familiar with those towns, though Big Fork is geographically the prettiest.
Big Fork is not Seeley Lake. Seeley Lake is a very nice little town, but it is still very working class (work hard, play hard, hunting, fishing, drinking) and not nearly as sophisticated or tourist-based. Big Fork has all the amenities tourists demand – at least seasonally.
This is true. But people who like winter sports love it, and the summers are gorgeous, though of course not as warm as Cali. Flathead Lake is glacier-fed and cold year round.
As someone raised in Montana and vacationing in the Flathead Valley my whole life, I would love to live in the Valley. I intend to retire there myself, once I’ve made my little pile. 
But I freely admit I’m biased; I love it entirely. When I die, I want my ashes spread on the beach at my parents’ lake house – that’s how much I love it.
Feel free to e-mail me if you have any further questions.
ETA: If you’re going up there in June, you’d better start planning now. This is a high-density tourist destination and things like rental cars and hotel rooms book up fast.
You also might want to look at the Bitterroot Valley (Stevensville, Hamilton, Darby), which is also becoming a real retirement destination spot in Montana.
-k-
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