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List Price: $39.95 | | Label: Criterion
Salesrank: 41803
Released: November 16, 2004 |
| Our Price: $24.54 |
| Used Price: $14.94 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
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.
Description of Short Cuts - Criterion Collection:
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
Short Cuts - Criterion Collection Reviews:
One of Altman's best! 
2009-07-08 - This has to be one of the best films to come out of the nineties. I've waited several years to watch it, and now that I have seen it, I honestly don't knwo what kept me waiting so long! I loved it! It's funny, bittersweet, and heartbreaking. The acting from the entire ensemble is amazing, and the direction is flawless. I love Altman's style. He's not so concerned with flashy camera tricks and techniques. He simply sets the camera up, and lets his actors act. The editing is seamless. You'd think that this film would be an editor's nightmare - and it probably was - but lots of effort obviously went into the film. You can most definitely call it a labor of love from everyone that was involved. It just inspires and amazes me to know that Robert Altman had this much ambition when he put together this project. With some directors, after they reach a certain age, they slow down and take on smaller projects. Not Altman. This film was a landmark, and inspired another great film of the nineties, MAGNOLIA. The films couldn't be more different, however there are a few notable similarities. Some have called MAGNOLIA a rip off of SHORT CUTS, and I'd have to disagree. Aside from that, I think that it is a wonderful film that every film buff should see. I am glad that I finally got to view it in it's entirety.
I highly recommend this film!
pioneering film that is deep with insight into modern life
2009-04-20 - 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.
Not a New Edition
2008-10-15 - 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.
Middling 
2008-09-18 - 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.
Slightly over-rated and way too long
2008-08-22 - 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.
