Review of Short Cuts (1993) by Andres B — 11 Dec 2010

Robert Altman took a handful of precise short stories by Raymond Carver, stories that I had always assumed were set in the Midwest, and turned them into a sweeping, downbeat snapshot of 1990's Los Angeles. Like a lot of Altman's work, "Short Cuts" feels loose and improvised although it actually sticks quite closely to the source material, often word for word. Altman has a way of making it feel natural, which is the essense of his style, and it serves Carver's work well.

From the large all-star cast Lily Tomlin, Chris Penn and Jack Lemmon stood out for me. This is a film with many fine quiet moments, some less quiet ones, tragedies small and large, and a whole world bulging outside the parameters of the movie screen. It's populated with fully formed, recognizable characters and it rewards multiple viewings. There is a deceptively intricate structure to this movie that isn't necessarily apparent after a single viewing. (For example, and a mild SPOILER, I didn't realize one of the characters was a child molester until the second viewing. I'm embarrassed to say that I kind of sympathized with him the first time I watched it, and I just didn't pick up on it.).

I think "Short Cuts" compares favorably to Altman's "Nashville", one of the greatest American films, and is light years better than "Crash" or "Magnolia", two fairly recent and wildly overpraised Altmanesque knock-offs. Those films hammered you over the head with their themes and were emotionally bombastic, Altman is much more subtle and assured. He trusts his audience and doesn't lecture to them. This is a great movie. 5 stars.