Review of McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) by Derek A — 17 Jul 2007

There is one perfect scene in this movie that stands out from a crowd of near-perfect scenes: Beattty's McCabe sitting amongst the sawdust on a crate in his not-yet finished saloon, bowler hat still on as he finishes the grease of his dinner, and filled past the eyeballs with whiskey.

As he blindly and slowly reaches out for the bottle again, nearly tipping it off its perch, you realize that Beatty was a master of understatement, but that Altman was the greater master of the two for he gave that understatement a film of poetry.