Short Cuts - Criterion Collection
by John Dorr, Mike E. Kaplan, Robert Altman
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DVD details
Actor: Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Jack Lemmon, Julianne Moore, Tim RobbinsDirector: John Dorr, Mike E. Kaplan, Robert Altman
Brand: Image Entertainment
Writer: Robert Altman
Producer: Cary Brokaw
Producer: David Levy
Writer: Frank Barhydt
Writer: Raymond Carver
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 183 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-16
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Criterion
DVD Reviews of Short Cuts - Criterion Collection
DVD Review: pioneering film that is deep with insight into modern life
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this when it came out and absolutely loved it. Though I hadn't seen it since then, certain images remained stuck in my mind: the angry betrayed spouse, the phallocratic policeman, the promiscuous divorcee, the parents in tragedy at the baker. Extremely vivid personalities, all subtly linked by chance, who reveal the drama of their lives as the viewpoint flits from one to the other. Now, seeing it for the first time since then, the film totally satisfied yet again - indeed, it is so intricate that I know I can watch it many many times for nuance.
The performances are universally stunning, vignettes by truly great actors, who can summarize an entire life, even an entire environment and time, in a few gestures. Every single group faces some sort of fundamental upheaval over a weekend, in LA of the 1990s. It is mostly about terrible loss, though some survive and simply go on. I empathized with every single person and imagined where they went from there, like they entered my imagination, as they did the first time I saw it.
Warmly recommended. I am a big Altman fan and this is certainly one of his very best.
DVD Review: Not a New Edition
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the same edition that came out in 2004; it does not contain any new features. I looked on Criterion's website, and apparently the only thing "new" about this edition is the lower retail price. Still a great movie, so if you don't own it yet, now you can get it for less money. Very cool feature-length making-of documentary included.DVD Review: Middling
Summary: 3 Stars
Short Cuts, the three plus hour long film written and directed by Robert Altman (with co-writer Frank Barhydt), based upon a series of short stories by Raymond Carver, is an odd film. It's not a bad film, nor is it even remotely a great film- the only two sorts of films that the hit (Nashville) and miss (Vincent And Theo) Altman has plenty of experience with. The nine stories and one poem of Carver's, from the same titled anthology book, have been transplanted from the Pacific Northwest to Los Angeles, and many of the stories are made to cross over with each other, where they were unconnected in print, as well from different story collections, with several characters being based upon more than one character to help achieve that end. The problem is that the film loses focus when it centers on lesser written tales, which Altman does not make better, and on some tales which he actually makes worse. There are ten stories and two dozen characters that fill the screen, and a plenum of human melodrama, drama, and darkness fill the screen: joy, sadness, jealousy, fear, reconciliation, pain, infidelity, and death- accidental, murder, and suicide are among them.
The quick moving vignettes are so filigreed that to do justice to each would take far too long, but most work well, until it comes to their resolutions.... Short Cuts is a film almost wholly devoted to the written word, as all great films are, but its `little above average' goodness, rather than greatness, stems from the fact that the words of Carver- as hit and miss in prose as Altman is on film, are never allowed their full power nor poesy. Despite what others have said, Carver was no minimalist. Becekett was a minimalist. Carver was merely lean in his prose- which is not synonymous with minimalism, but he was rich in characterization and `moment'- at his best. This film never quite finds that groove. It is like 85% of the way to an orgasm, but the result is that its wad is never shot, although its member ripens. This impotence comes not only from the screenplay's flaws, but from the anomic cinematography of Walt Lloyd- who will have no one comparing him to Sven Nykvist, and the off the rack musical scoring of Mark Isham.
There is also much pointless nudity in the film- mostly female, which has led feminist critics to damn the film. Usually, their critiques are downright silly- and vapidly lead them to stick out their tongues and call Carver a `misogynist', or worse. He's not, clearly, but as the nudity is pointless- such as a muff shot of Julianne Moore cleaning wine from her dress as she fesses up to her infidelity, why is it included? Is her orange pubic hair so greatly symbolic or ironic? No. Is it realism? Perhaps, but it is `cheap realism'. Marketing is a more likely and truthful reply. Yet it is the `real realism' of the film that is mother to its best moments, little moments like Paul Finnigan's egg trick, Claire Kane's pretending to sign the guest book at the funeral of the dead girl her husband had no compassion for, or the humorous photo mixup where Gordon sees the photos of a `dead' Honey that Bill staged, and Honey and Lois see the photos of the dead girl in the river that Gordon also did not empathize with, which lead both parties to memorize the others' license plates in order to report them to the police. That the `real reality' of this work of art is so few and far between, and leads to its diminution, one wonders what a good dollop of, say `real fiction' may have added? A little more Carver and a little less `tang may have been the best and shortest cut this film had to greatness.
DVD Review: Slightly over-rated and way too long
Summary: 3 Stars
It took me several days to finish watching this 3-hour adaptation of the increasingly forgotten Raymond Carver's short stories. It's too long by a third. Nothing much happens that ties anything together. There are individual moments of acting brilliance, especially the Jack Lemon confession scene, and the stilted but entertaining interplay by Tom Waits and whats her name from Saturday Night Live. There's some full frontal nudity, rare for a Hollywood creation. The soundtrack is great, with original tunes by Dr. John sung by the jazz singer Annie Ross, who also acts well here. Carver was hot stuff in the late 80s and early 90s, but you don't hear much about him any more. That doesn't mean his stories weren't good. Altman took a bunch of them and stitched them together, re-set them in LA from the Northwest, and created something new.DVD Review: This is life...
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the greatest compliments you can give to any film done by Robert Altman is that they perfectly represent real life. Nothing about his films are glossed up as is the fashion of almost anything in Hollywood. Every frame and every character has this rich sense of humanity and raw realness that drips from their every move. Even when the situations are less than normal the human reactions to them are so natural that one can't help but relate. `Short Cuts' has been lauded as Altman's finest work, and even though I can't say that I have seen everything he's done I can honestly say that of what I have seen `Short Cuts' is by far the grandest. Every single frame is flawlessly constructed and leads beautifully right into the next.
That's actually in all probability the greatest compliment you can give to any director.
`Short Cuts' intersects between the lives of about eight families, all who live within the same town and all who are connected in one way or another. Each family and their personal lives are exposed with such blunt realism that it never really feels like we're watching a movie but more like we are sitting in their living room watching them simply live. When Julianne Moore's character Marian stands in her living room without any pants or even underpants on and yells at her husband for quite some time we get a glimpse of acting without restraint, acting without boundaries; in other words we get to see these actors transcend the chains of `acting' and we watch them become their characters. These actors are so comfortable within the realms of their performances that they come off as normal everyday people going about their normal everyday lives. There is not a single hint of discomfort or hesitation.
The families who we are introduced to all have their own set of very unique problems. Marian and Ralph Wyman are struggling to stay interested with each other. They find themselves quarreling over just about anything, yet neither of them can seem to pinpoint where it all went wrong. Claire and Stuart Kane meet the Wyman's at a concert and instantly strike an acquaintance that turns into an obligatory dinner invite that both couples (at least both husbands) begin to dread. Claire Kane finds herself being pulled over by Officer Gene Shepard, who proceeds to ask her out. Gene is married (unhappily) to Sherri who happens to be Marian's sister. Gene is also dating Betty Weathers who is separated from her possessive husband Stormy. Then you have Ann and Howard Finnigan who find themselves in a horrific situation when their young son is hit by a car on his way home from school. The woman who hit their son is Doreen Piggot. Doreen finds herself questioning her life choices after she nearly kills this young boy and she confides her feelings to her daughter Honey. Honey is married to Bill, who happens to be best friends with Jerry Kaiser who cleans the Finnigan's pool.
Add to this already elaborate mosaic a murdered young woman and the apathetic reaction from the men who find her and you have one of the most alarming and unsettling character studies in recent memory.
But, like I mentioned, it's the realistic approach taken by the actors that really elevates this film. To discuss every performance would really be tiresome to the reader, not to mention to myself, but there are a few standouts that I think deserve special mention. Fred Ward, who plays Stuart Kane, shows plenty of depth in character, especially when he and some fishing buddies find the murdered young woman. His reaction not only to the discovery but also to his wife's reaction to his insensitivity radiates through the screen. Both Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell are amazing as the Finnigan parents. There situation is the most unnerving and heartbreaking and so we are instantly drawn to them but the way each actor handles their characters with realism is beyond words; especially MacDowell who slowly unravels before our eyes. As good as they are, Jack Lemmon is even better. Lemmon plays Howard's estranged father who hears of the accident and decides to drop by the hospital to get reacquainted. He speaks volumes with his eyes and movements and overall approach that I was moved to tears.
`Short Cuts' truly changed my mind about a certain actress that I find myself putting down quite a bit; Julianne Moore. Her riveting portrayal of Marian Wyman is so natural and so real that I am quick to label it best in show. I have always found Moore to be a very mannered actress, one who always appears to be acting. This works in her favor in films like `Far From Heaven', but in most of her work I think it works against her. Here she has cast aside all of those mannerisms and acts splendidly natural, so much so that I couldn't believe she was the same actress I had seen so many times before.
The rest of the cast is amazing as well, from Lilly Tomlin to Chris Penn to Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tim Robbins and Lili Taylor and Madeleine Stowe and Robert Downey Jr. and Frances McDormand and even Peter Gallagher (although his character repulsed me). Lyle Lovett has a controversial role in the film, and Annie Ross and Lori Singer play mother and daughter musicians (mother sings, daughter plays cello) who have a very stirring and emotionally complicated sub-plot (the only story arc of Altman's own imagination; not drawing any inspiration from Raymond Carver's short stories).
In closing I feel compelled to implore you to watch this movie as soon as you can, if you have not already. There are few films that paint life so realistically, without sugar coating and without dramatic reinterpretation. Everything presented in `Short Cuts' is `as is' so-to-speak, reaching further into our hearts and souls because every word spoken and every action taken is as if we ourselves had spoken or taken them. `Short Cuts' is a story about life told as if it had really been lived.
Description of Short Cuts - Criterion Collection
The work of two great American artists merge in Short Cuts, maverick director Robert Altman's kaleidoscopic adaptation of the stories of renowned author Raymond Carver. Epic in scale yet meticulously observed, the film interweaves the stories of twenty-two characters struggling to find solace and meaning in contemporary Los Angeles. The extraordinary ensemble cast includes Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Robert Downey, Jr., Jack Lemmon, and Jennifer Jason Leigh-all giving fearless performances in one of Altman's most compassionate creations.If aliens came down to earth to see if humanity was worth saving, showing them Short Cuts, Robert Altman's bluesy riff on life in L.A. in the '90s, would not be a good idea. Based on the stories of Raymond Carver (adapted by Altman and Frank Barhydt), this ambitious film is a devilish valentine to living in L.A., where happiness comes at a premium. There are at least eight separate stories that crisscross, most about people who choose not to relate to the lives they are living. Seemingly by design, none of the stories (nor the performances for that matter) have more impact than the others--this is a true mosaic film. The most representative plot deals with a group of friends (Buck Henry, Fred Ward, and Huey Lewis) who decide to keep fishing even after discovering a body in the river. The story works as a morose comedy and a flag holder for the movie: the inability to take the correct action. Others would rather talk about seeing Alex Trebek than discuss their faltering relationships. A huge and talented cast twists in the wind, bumping into moments of truth, sex, and passion. Some even come out all right in the end. The accidental nature of life--a common theme in many Altman films--has never been so maddeningly persistent, or absorbing. The score by Mark Isham with songs sung by Annie Ross (also a cast member) fuels the moodiness, as does the opening number in which Medfly helicopters spray the town to the tune "Prisoner of Life." Delivering the film a year after his biggest hit in two decades, The Player, Altman proved his artistic tenacity as an aged artist with the heart of a new filmmaker: he's not afraid of risking it all. --Doug Thomas
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