Review of Short Cuts (1993) by Bobby B — 30 Nov 2009

Not really what I was expecting. I mainly watched Short Cuts because I heard it was a huge influence on P.T. Anderson's Magnolia, which is probably one of my ten favorite movies. I can definitely see how Anderson was influenced - both take place over a short period of time in Los Angeles, involve many seriously flawed characters, and have a huge out-of-left-field surprise that hits all the characters at the end. But where Magnolia is more of an intense but hopeful drama, Short Cuts is more of a cynical black comedy. Some of the stories do have emotional weight to them, but more often than not we are supposed to laugh at these people and all the weird, fucked-up things they do. Because of this, Short Cuts is rarely emotionally engaging or likeable in any way, but it's still fascinating as hell. The characters weave together in clever, unexpected, often shocking ways, and the fact that Altman managed to keep Short Cuts from splintering into complete chaos is incredibly impressive. With all these unique, funny, often creepy stories unfolding beautifully, the 3-hour running time goes by pretty quickly, to the point where I actually wanted a little bit more.

Short Cuts is sometimes a bit overwhelming and often unsettlingly dark, but it ended up being a wonderfully unusual, thought-provoking film that was worth the effort to watch. Besides, look at that cast!