SHORT CUTS (1993) – A 30th Anniversary Review

Introduction

With a deft ensemble and complex themes, Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (1993) is a well-crafted menagerie of ideas that mostly come together in a rewarding way.  The film is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month.

Synopsis

As a fleet of helicopters sprays for medflies in Los Angeles, a group of citizens combats problems in their daily lives. One of the pilots Stormy (Peter Gallagher) wants to see his son, but his wife Betty (Frances McDormand) is sleeping with a series of men, including police officer Gene (Tim Robbins). Gene’s wife Sherri (Madeline Stowe) is suspicious of Gene, who hates the family dog. Sherri’s artist sister Marian (Julianne Moore) is married to Dr. Ralph (Matthew Modine). Salesman Stewart (Fred Ward) and party clown Claire (Anne Archer) meet Marian and Ralph and plan a dinner date.

Waitress Doreen (Lily Tomlin) deals with the hardships of her job as well as her alcoholic limo driver husband Earl (Tom Waits). Doreen’s daughter Honey (Lily Taylor) is married to makeup artist Bill (Robert Downey Jr.), who is friends with phone sex operator Lois (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and pool cleaner Jerry (Chris Penn). Jerry cleans the pool of TV commentator Howard (Bruce Davidson) his wife Anne (Andie MacDowell), and his son Casey.

When Dorren accidentally hits Casey with her car and Stuart goes on a fishing trip, things begin to spin out of control for everyone. Earthquakes, helicopters, and long-secret revelations come to light for each group.

Themes

Oftentimes with films concerning interwoven narratives, some stories may get prominence over others. In the case of Short Cuts, no story feels greater or given more narrative weight than others. Each story is a brief encounter of a particular piece of the story. It is given equal weight to the others, without a particular story being lessened.

More than anything, this film shows these characters spinning. No character has a goal. They are slaves to their circumstances, only living with impulse and selfishness. Characters cheat, lie, and only care about consequences when the results are too grand to ignore. Even with the benefit of hindsight, most characters can’t grasp their effect on others. They are too self-absorbed to think of anything else.

Cast/Direction

The cast is the main draw and the amount of famous faces is almost staggering. The famous scene of Moore arguing while bottomless is stark for its portrayal of casual nudity, but also for her fearlessness. She is so raw with her emotions, that the fact that she is starkly nude is barely registered. Similarly, McDormand plays a character so unlike her expected roles, that it feels exceptionally varied. Her role is one of a playful sexpot who refuses to be pigeonholed.

Stowe might be my favorite performance. Her initial annoyance with the obvious cheating of her husband paints her as a naïve victim, but it turns out she has more going on under the surface. In fact, her character might be the only self-aware person in the whole film. Jack Lemmon shows up for a few scenes and blows the doors off. He has an extended monologue where he gives context to his estrangement with his son which is some of the most memorable in the film. The rest of the cast is good but sinks firmly into the ensemble.

Altman somehow manages to keep all these balls in the air without dropping any of them. The care and attention paid to each story is commendable in and of itself. A storyboarded timeline of connections and events would be staggering. There’s a good reason the film is three hours long.

Summary

Sprawling and intricate, Short Cuts is a well-acted portrait of the fears and lives of early 90s Los Angeles. The effort might be a bit better than the film, but it certainly isn’t boring.

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