The Player

A narcissistic studio executive (Tim Robbins) who green-lights movie scripts finds his job jeopardized by a rival shark and his life threatened by one of the many writers he has turned down over the years, leading him to commit a dubious murder and cast into a paranoid, Kafkaesque nightmare. From Michael Tolkin's novel, Robert Altman's skewering of Hollywood is both a hilarious black comedy and effective noir showcasing the maverick director at the top of his form. With the spectacular opening tracking shot, to a perfectly cast Robbins, the endless celebrity cameos, and the insider's script, The Player is a masterful Hollywood satire on par with Sunset Blvd. and The Bad and the Beautiful

Short Cuts

A man and his fishing buddies refuse to let a dead body ruin their weekend expedition, the revelation leaving his wife not knowing how to respond; a baker harasses a couple remiss in picking up a cake for their son, not knowing that the boy was just involved in a serious car accident; a phone sex operator's line of work secretly frustrates her husband; a philandering cop's extracurricular activities only amuse his knowing wife while he attempts to rid himself of the yelping family dog and carries on with a miserable single mother being targeted by her jealous ex. These are just of few of the stories that comprise Robert Altman's ambitious intersecting LA set anthology drawn from a sampling of Raymond Carver's short stories. While not all the threads are woven into a satisfying patchwork, the ending feels somewhat cheap, and the changes to the Carver stories aren't always an improvement, it is such an impressive, observant assemblage featuring a sprawling, talented cast and the kind of picture that puts today's "interconnected/hyperlinked" movies to shame.

*** 1/2 out of ****

3 Women

A self-professed social butterfly (Shelly Duvall) takes on a shy, childlike girl (Sissy Spacek) as a roommate and protege at the spa she works at in the California desert. After a traumatic incident and hospitalization, the two apparently switch roles and following a stillborn birth, the two seem to form a surrogate family with the mute, middle-aged woman (Janice Rule) who paints bizarre, tribal murals on the apartment complex's pool floor. 3 Women is a hypnotic, murky, unconventional, and extremely strange film that Robert Altman claimed came to him in a dream, the effect of which is conveyed brilliantly through the direction and artistry, and owes more than a little to Persona. Spacek and Duvall's performances are complex and sublimely executed.

**** out of ****

The Long Goodbye

While returning from the grocery store to purchase cat food, private investigator Philip Marlowe is visited by a friend asking to borrow money. Next thing the police are at his door, the friend implicated in a murder and Marlowe arrested for obstruction. Soon his friend is found murdered south of the border, he is released, and a new case involving a socialite and her alcoholic writer husband will lead him to the bottom of his friend's death and dealings. Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, written by Leigh Brackett (who helped pen The Big Sleep, another Raymond Chandler potboiler, three decades earlier) is a unique and offbeat take on the detective story featuring many asides, most welcomed or amusing, but strays too often. Gould is an appealing Marlowe and Sterling Hayden has a memorable bit as the writer.

*** out of ****

Cookie's Fortune

A elderly southern matron (Patricia Neal) finally decides to off herself, a long gestating plan to join her beloved departed husband in the afterlife. When her nieces, a domineering local staple (Glenn Close) and her buffoonish sister (Julianne Moore), stumble upon the scene and decides to disguise the shameful suicide as a home invasion, leaving her black caregiver (Charles Dutton) accused of the crime, though only mildly suspected by the close knit community. Robert Altman's Cookie's Fortune is a humorous small-town drama, at once a social commentary and slice of life, also ingeniously constructed and with a great cast.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Secret Honor

In his personal office post-presidency, a paranoid, acrid, resentful, and sullen Richard Nixon (Phillip Baker Hall) bitterly recalls his life and political career to a tape recorder, drink in hand and armed with a revolver. Robert Altman's filmization of Arnold Stone and Donald Freed's one man play (which they both adapted for the screen) is a departure from the director's usual work, though no less masterful, featuring a tour-de-force performance from Hall.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Nashville

In the midst of a Presidential Primary, the lives of no less than two dozen disparate people gather in Music City to organize, attend and perform at a musical rally in Robert Altman’s satirical, unconventional pastiche of American life. Nashville is impeccably edited and a complete and often heartbreaking knockout once you get in sync with its uncommon tempo. The film is filled with many memorable performances with Lily Tomlin, Keith Carradine, Karen Black, and Henry Gibson rushing to mind first, and there is the added joy of watching most of the cast sing songs they generally composed themselves.

*** 1/2 out of ****

A Prairie Home Companion

Fans gather at the Fitzgerald Theater in Minneapolis for a live folksy, antiquated radio program not knowing it will be the final broadcast, the venue having been sold and the show cancelled. As the performance plays out onstage, drama and intrigue unfold backstage:  a private detective (Kevin Kline) pokes around, an axeman (Tommy Lee Jones) from the foreclosing corporate outfit assesses the situation, the pregnant stage manager (Maya Rudolph) hounds the procrastinating host (Garrison Keillor), and cast members kid, reminisce and say their farewells as a mysterious, angelic figure (Virginia Madsen) looms over all. Keillor’s screen adaptation of his own long running radio program and Robert Altman’s last film as a director is a whole lot of fun on all accounts, successfully capturing the whimsical, folksy, nostalgic feelings associated with the cherished show while crafting a warm, offbeat, and very funny movie. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin contribute excellent performances as a pair of singing sisters with Lindsay Lohan surprisingly game as Streep’s daughter, and John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson are a hoot as a duo of crooning cowboys.

*** 1/2 out of ****

3 Films on Vincent and Theo van Gogh

 Vincente Minnelli's Lust for Life, Paul Cox's Vincent and Robert Altman's Vincent and Theo are three films that all take the same basic story--the passion and madness of the renowned and beleaguered Dutch master and his relationship to his devoted art dealing brother--present them from different angles, and ultimately serve as extraordinary complements of each other. Lust for Life features considerable access to Van Gogh's paintings, often shown in widescreen closeup, and also the forceful and controlled performance from Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn's memorable, Oscar winning turn as the tortured artist's mentor Paul Gauguin. Cox's film is a documentary which presents footage of Van Gogh's supposed tumultuous journey, much of which is set in the idyllic South of France, and features John Hurt, ideally cast, reading Vincent's poetically revealing letters to his brother Theo. Altman's film stays true to its title devoting just about as much time to the less heralded Van Gogh sibling, has a dark tone and tempo meshed with the director's usual offbeat approach, and contains a snarlingly manic and remarkable performance from Tim Roth as Vincent and an equally well realized one from Paul Rhys as his counterpart.

MASH

Whether confronting an uptight colleague (Robert Duvall) or harassing the high-strung Hot Lips (Sally Kellerman), Army Captains Hawkeye (Donald Sutherland) and Duke (Tom Skerritt) run their Korean based surgical unit with a sort of anarchic, reckless abandon while still maintaining competence in their work. They are only reinforced when like minded Trapper (Elliot Gould) is reassigned to their division who gleefully partakes in the hijinks. From a screenplay from Ring Lardner Jr., who worked from a novel by Richard Hooker, Robert Altman's precursor to the long running TV series is a funny, way offbeat comedy that nails its satiric barbs, features an engaging performance from Sutherland, and a riotous, madcap conclusion.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

(spoilers herein) An arrogant cardsharp (Warren Beatty) opens a gambling joint in an upstart western mining city so young that it barely has the frames of its houses filled it. When a beautiful, classy prostitute (Julie Christie) convinces him he needs her expertise to oversee his whorehouse, he finds in her both a business partner and an awkward lover. However, when his bustling operation comes to the attention of a large mining company, whose negotiating agents he refuses to play ball with, McCabe finds his livelihood and personal well being in the hands of a ruthless band of mercenaries. With its beautifully lit photography, very human performances from Beatty and Christie, and a screenplay interested foremost in the sociological behavior of its characters, Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller is a western that is so distinct and well-defined, it places itself in a class apart from other entries in the genre. It also features several haunting icy demises, namely the finale and Keith Carradine's senseless, unforgettable rope bridge execution.

Thieves Like Us

During the Great Depression, three convicted bank robbers, one significantly younger than the other two, make an escape during their fishing trip furlough and take it on the lam. They then proceed to go on a string of bank robberies, something they seem to be proud of. The men seem to be amiable types, who like to joke and laugh, but the elder two's true nature begins to shine through when some of the robberies turn violent. Meanwhile, the youngest and genuine criminal (Keith Carradine) meets a young woman (Shelley Duvall) and you know the outlook isn't sunny for the two as a dramatization of Romeo and Juliet plays on the radio as they make love. Directed by Robert Altman, you may think he is doing his take on Bonnie and Clyde. However, you can quickly tell that his approach is highly original and the master's sure hand is evidently at work, even in this early outing. In addition to having a great directorial eye and his camera beautifully capturing the southern countryside, Altman isn't afraid to focus on characterization even if it is at the expense of the plot, and the result is a truly unique entry in the genre.

Gosford Park

The first two words that come to mind when I think of director Robert Altman are unconventional and ensemble, and with Gosford Park Altman provides with an unconventional take on the mansion murder mystery told with an ensemble cast. It is 1932 and an assortment of upper class Americans and Brits, along with their servants, are gathered at a mansion on the English countryside for a weekend of shooting and gallivanting. The film is actually a dissection and comparison of upper class and working class, and the murder only serves to carry on this entity. Gosford Park is slow going at times and engaging at others, and is not recommended for the ADD viewer. However, for its acting, beautiful photography, nice moments, and realization of time and place Gosford Park is worth the visit.
***