Review of Short Cuts (1993) by Kerry P — 28 Jul 2009

I really had no idea if I was going to liek this movie. When I was about to put it in my PlayStation 2 to watch it (yes: I don't actually have a DVD player... well I do. I'm just too lazy to hook it up haha), I noticed the film was 187 minutes, which really made me nervous about it, but it's actually a great film about a group of diverse people.

As far as the set-up goes, it's not entirely different from Crash: it's about a group of different people in Los Angeles just trying to live their lives. It's about twenty or so people. Some of the notable stars in the film are two-time Academy Award-nominee Robert Downey, Jr., Golden Globe-winner Andie MacDowell, Academy Award-winner Frances McDormand, four-time Academy Award-nominee Julianne Moore, Academy Award-winner Tim Robbins, and Academy Award-nominee Lily Tomlin. However, even though it is similar to Crash in set-up, it is entirely different storywise. It's not about racial tensions: it's just about life in general.

The greatest thing about the film is that it feels real. Sure, there are moments that attempt for dramatic "film" effect or whatnot, but it never feels fake. The acting is all fantastic. The best performances are from Robert Downey, Jr. as the womanizing make-up artist, Andie MacDowell as the mother of a sick son, Frances McDormand as a single mother, Julianne Moore as an artist, Tim Robbins as a police officer cheating on his wife, and Lily Tomlin as a waitress married to a lowlife. However, all of the performances are great. The ensemble cast is so great, in fact, that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gave the film a Special Golden Globe Award for its Ensemble Cast, the only time in history the HFPA has ever given such an award.

So it's a very real film. Gritty with the language and some coarse content however. But if you can handle all of that...

Highly recommended.