"Short Cuts" is one of the longer films from Hollywood in recent years but never once does it become boring or seem too long. It is a presentation of many different stories with the general theme of familial problems set in sunny California. Many of the stories that director and co-writer Robert Altman ("Cookie's Fortune," "MASH") has woven together could easily be expounded upon and could have interesting 2 hour films devoted to each of them separately. Altman assembled one of the most incredible casts, including Andie MacDowell, Jack Lemmon, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Penn, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Tim Robbins, Madeline Stowe, Robert Downey Jr., Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher, and Lyle Lovett, in Hollywood history for his masterpiece.
There are many different stories here, so I won't go into much plot detail, but I will outline some of the situations Altman sets up. Andie MacDowell and Bruce Davison play a couple whose child gets hit by a car on the day before his birthday. Tim Robbins and Madeline Stowe play a couple whose marriage is falling apart. Their 3 young children love their family dog, but Robbins' character, a police officer, just cannot bear the yapping pest. Chris Penn plays a pool cleaner, while his wife, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, plays a phone sex operator who works out of her house while she cares for her young children. Julianne Moore (artist) and Matthew Modine (Doctor) play a couple who, among their concerns about life, are going to have another couple (who they were reluctant to invite in the first place) over to dinner. The invited couple, played by Anne Archer and Fred Ward, are also very nervous about going over to dinner. Lily Tomlin and Tom Waits play a low class couple whose marriage quickly goes in and out of stability.
These and many more characters in the film are all well-developed and lead very interesting and "real" lives. "Short Cuts" is an extremely realistic film in that it illustrates so many different emotions that we all feel in similar situations. Sometimes disturbing, all of these stories hit at your heart as they cause you to look at certain aspects in your life in a different fashion than before. For example, next time you get angry at a stranger for doing something inconsiderate to you, perhaps there is a very good reason for it that you will never discover. Many hypothesis such as this are brought forth in this film as many of the characters never formally meet but nonetheless have an important connection with one another.
Although I haven't seen "Magnolia" yet, I know from reading reviews of it, that it and "Short Cuts" are very similar. They both feature impressive casts who play realistic characters with their own touching stories that sometimes can intertwine. All the acting here is top-notch, with especially strong supporting performances by Jack Lemmon and Tim Robbins.
There is hardly a single dull moment in "Short Cuts," and even with its 3 hour plus running length, I would have loved it to have been even longer.
Rated R for nudity, strong sexuality, and language
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