Performances are low key but accomplished, comedy and tragedy are delicately balanced and the whole thing has the feel of a sprawling but very absorbing soap.
Short Cuts (1993)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:6
Fresh:6
Rotten:0
Average Rating:8.5/10
Runtime: 3 hrs 9 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Using the short stories of Raymond Carver as a jumping-off point, American maverick director Robert Altman weaves a tapestry of interlocking tales set against the seedy backdrop of contemporary... Using the short stories of Raymond Carver as a jumping-off point, American maverick director Robert Altman weaves a tapestry of interlocking tales set against the seedy backdrop of contemporary middle-class Los Angeles. Tracking the various stages of denial, rage, and despair in the lives of several couples--a philandering cop and his masochistic spouse (Tim Robbins and Madeline Stowe); a helicopter pilot who gets revenge on his ex by trashing her house (Peter Gallagher and Frances McDormand); a man and woman whose perfect life falls apart when they lose their son in a hit-and-run accident (Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell); a pool cleaner who listens in mounting frustration to his wife performing phone sex each day while tending her brood of children (Chris Penn and Jennifer Jason Leigh); a wealthy couple who are haunted by an incident from the past (Matthew Modine and Julianne Moore); an aging jazz singer and her suicidal daughter (Annie Ross and Lori Singer); an alcoholic limo driver and his waitress wife (Tom Waits and Lily Tomlin)--Altman reveals their common threads of family dysfunction and marital discord in the unforgiving glare of the Southern California sunlight. The result is a sweeping motion picture that also stands as an important sociological artifact of late 20th century Los Angeles life. [More]
Starring: Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Anne Archer, Matthew Modine
Starring: Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Anne Archer, Matthew Modine, Madeleine Stowe, Buck Henry, Lily Tomlin, Lori Singer, Jack Lemmon, Lyle Lovett, Huey Lewis, Robert Downey, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Penn, Lili Taylor, Tom Waits, Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher, Jarrett Lennon, Annie Ross, Margery Bond, Robert DoQui, Darnell Williams, Michael Beach, Charles Rocket, Dirk Blocker, Natalie Strong
Director: Robert Altman
Director: Robert Altman
Screenwriter: Robert Altman
Story: Raymond Carver
Composer: Gavin Friday, Mark Isham
Producer: Cary Brokaw
Reviews for Short Cuts
Cool, clever and complex, Altman succeeds in bringing out the best from a highly talented cast.
From the exhilarating opening, you know Altman's epic 'adaptation' of eight stories and a poem by Raymond Carver is going to be special.
As the grand ringmaster, it's here that Altman passes the baton to his actors , whose behavioral insights are critical to the film's success.
The lives are often desperate and the characters inarticulate, but the group portrait is as grandly, sometimes as hilariously, realized as anything the director has ever done.
The movie is based on short stories by Raymond Carver, but this is Altman's work, not Carver's, and all the film really has in common with its source is a feeling for people who are disconnected.
Latest News for Short Cuts
October 01, 2008:
EW Looks Back on 30 Unforgettable Nude Scenes ![]()
The MPAA doesn't like it, but America has never been able to get enough of naked people on the big screen -- and Entertainment Weekly has honored our fondness for flesh with a... More...
November 21, 2006:
Auteur Robert Altman Passes Away at 81
Robert Altman, the esteemed and venerable director of "M*A*S*H," "Nashville," and "The Player," died Monday from complications due to cancer. He... More...
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