Short Cuts [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray] [2 Discs]

Director: Robert Altman Robert Altman

Overview

Robert Altman stunningly interweaves 22 characters and nine Raymond Carver short stories -- relocating the settings from Carver's Northwest to Los Angeles during a spraying of malathion brought on by a Medfly epidemic. Altman intercuts tales of disconnection and emotional emptiness. The stories concern variations upon the theme of Los Angeles angst --a happily married couple, Ann (Andie MacDowell) and Howard Finnigan (Bruce Davison) have to deal with the deep emotions felt when their child is struck by a car before his birthday and lapses into a coma, while the baker (Lyle Lovett) of their child's neglected birthday cake sinks into a rage and torments them in their grief. Three men (Fred Ward, Buck Henry and Huey Lewis) leave on a much anticipated fishing trip, only to discover the drowned body of a nude woman floating in the river and decide to finish their fishing trip and ignore the corpse. A Los Angeles cop (Tim Robbins) uses his badge as an excuse to cheat on his wife (Madeleine Stowe). A pool cleaner (Chris Penn) resents his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) for her part-time job as a phone sex performer. A waitress (Lily Tomlin) is devoted to her limousine driver husband (Tom Waits), who is loving and concerned as long as he is sober. An irate husband (Peter Gallagher) decides to divide up his estranged wife's property in a unique way. A lonely woman (Lori Singer) who's a successful cellist wants to form a connection with her alcoholic mother (Annie Ross), a local jazz singer. A couple (Fred Ward and Anne Archer) is invited to dinner for the first time with two embittered spouses (Matthew Modine and Julianne Moore). Altman weaves the characters into an interconnected tapestry that exposes the shallow lives of this self-centered group of Californians.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/18/2016
UPC:	0715515187213
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	3:07:00
Sales rank:	368

Special Features

Conversation between director Robert Altman and actor Tim Robbins from 2004; Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country, a feature-length 1993 documentary on the making of Short Cuts; To Write and Keep Kind, a 1992 PBS documentary on the life of author Raymond Carver; One-hour 1983 audio interview with Carver, conducted for the American Audio Prose Library; Original demo recording of the film's Doc Pomus-Mac Rebennack songs, performed by Rebannack (Dr. John); Deleted scenes; A look inside the marketing of Short Cuts

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tim Robbins	Gene Shepard
Jennifer Jason Leigh	Lois Kaiser
Andie MacDowell	Ann Finnigan
Bruce Davison	Howard Finnigan
Julianne Moore	Marian Wyman
Matthew Modine	Dr. Ralph Wyman
Anne Archer	Claire Kane
Fred Ward	Stuart Kane
Chris Penn	Jerry Kaiser
Tom Waits	Earl Piggot
Lily Tomlin	Doreen Piggot
Madeleine Stowe	Sherri Shepard,Actor
Peter Gallagher	Stormy Weathers
Buck Henry	Gordon Johnson
Jack Lemmon	Paul Finnegan
Zane Cassidy	Casey Finnigan
Huey Lewis	Vern Miller
Lori Singer	Zoe Trainer
Robert Downey Jr.	Bill Bush
Lili Taylor	Honey Bush
Lyle Lovett	Andy Bitkower
Frances McDormand	Betty Weathers
Annie Ross	Tess Trainer
Joseph C. Hopkins	Joe Kaiser
Josette Macario	Josette Kaiser
Cassie Friel	Sandy Shepard,Will Shepard,Austin Shepard
Jarrett Lennon	Chad Weathers
Danny Darst	Aubrey Bell
Darnell Williams	Joe Robbins
Michael Beach	Jim Stone
Andi Chapman	Harriet Stone
Debbie Falconer	Barbara
Susie Cusack	Nancy
Charles Rocket	Wally Littleton
Jane Alden	Mrs. Schwarzmeier
Dirk Blocker	Diner Customer
Natalie Strong	Mourner
Jay Della	Bartender
Alex Trebek	Himself
Jerry Dunphy	Himself
Terry Adams	The Low Note Quintet #1
Greg Cohen	The Low Note Quintet #3
Robert DoQui	Knute Willis
Mark Isham	Composer

Technical Credits

Robert Altman

Frank Barhydt

Robert Altman	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Cary Brokaw	Executive Producer,Producer
Scott Bushnell	Producer,Executive Producer
Frank Barhydt	Screenwriter
Greg Walker	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

In one of his most ambitious cinematic undertakings, director Robert Altman folded no less than ten of Raymond Carver’s short stories into this sprawling 1993 comedy-drama -- an audacious, star-studded epic that encompassed no fewer than 22 significant characters. Short Cuts reveals the variegated, unaccountable ways people react when fate hands them unexpected challenges, victories, and defeats. To wit: Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell are devastated when their son is hit by a car driven by down-at-heels waitress Lily Tomlin, who is despondent over her crumbling marriage to chauffeur Tom Waits. Attending the boy is doctor Matthew Modine, who frets that his artist wife, Julianne Moore, may be having an affair. Her model, Madeleine Stowe, is married to L.A. cop Tim Robbins, who is cheating on her with Frances McDormand, herself recently separated from helicopter pilot Peter Gallagher. When Modine and Moore meet Anne Archer, who works as a clown at children’s birthday parties, they invite her and husband Fred Ward to dinner, but first Ward takes a fishing trip with buddies Buck Henry and Huey Lewis, during which they discover the body of a dead woman floating in the water. Altman and co-scripter Frank Barhydt show remarkable ingenuity in dovetailing the various vignettes (some of them inevitably more effective than others), and editor Geraldine Peroni juggles them with admirable dexterity. What’s important to remember is that there’s no central plot, only a theme. The film is carried by the interplay of its sharply delineated characters rather than a linear narrative, and the entertainment value lies in the richness of the ensemble performances. Over three hours long, Short Cuts is oddly titled -- but it’s a stunning achievement that ranks among the very best of Altman’s distinctive motion pictures.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

A dazzling and dizzying adaptation of short stories by Raymond Carver, Short Cuts ranks with the finest work of Robert Altman's career; it's the sort of sprawling but intimate character piece for which he became known with such earlier classics as MASH (1970), Nashville (1975), and The Player (1992). While Altman's busy, overcrowded style might not seem a good match for Carver's clean lines and minimalist prose, Altman demonstrates an intuitive feel for the sleazy underside of Los Angeles (relocated from the Pacific Northwest in the original stories) that Carver's characters call home, and, like Carver, he knows how to let his characters express themselves with small gestures that say more than long speeches. The stories wind around each other with just enough connecting threads to hold the tapestry together. And as is his hallmark, Altman has assembled a superb cast and given them plenty of room to work; Jack Lemmon's monologue about cheating on his wife may be one of the finest dramatic moments of his career, and celebrated jazz singer Annie Ross creates an unforgettable portrait of a woman lost in her music. Short Cuts is the work of a master filmmaker in full command of his craft, and it's so absorbing that at the end of its three-hour running time, you may find yourself wishing you could spend even more time with these characters.

All Movie Guide - Mark Deming