Short Cuts

The everyday lives of a number of Los Angeles residents are the subject of this loosely-knitted collection of short stories.

AMG: Based on stories by Raymond Carver, Short Cuts follows 22 Los Angeles residents whose lives intersect over the course of a few days. Ann and Howard Finnegan (Andie MacDowell and Bruce Davison) are preparing for their son Casey's birthday party when the boy is injured in an auto accident and falls into a coma. Meanwhile, Andy (Lyle Lovett), a baker, seethes with anger over the birthday cake that wasn't claimed, and Howard's father, Paul (Jack Lemmon), decides that a visit with his ailing grandson is a good time to discuss his infidelities. Lois (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a new mother who watches over her baby when not making money doing phone sex, which bothers her husband, Jerry (Chris Penn), though he knows they need the money. Pilot "Stormy" Weathers (Peter Gallagher) takes a very literal approach to dividing up community property with his ex-wife (Frances McDormand). Doreen (Lily Tomlin) is trying on to hold her marriage with Earl (Tom Waits), who is a good man on the rare occasions that he's sober. Zoe (Lori Singer), a classical musician, is trying to find some way to connect with her mother, Tess (Annie Ross), a jazz singer. Dr. Ralph Wyman (Matthew Modine) and his wife, Marian (Julianne Moore) put their bickering on hold while they have dinner with another couple, Stuart and Claire Kane (Fred Ward and Anne Archer). Stuart and his pals Gordon and Vern (Buck Henry and Huey Lewis) earlier went on a fishing trip where they discovered the body of a drowned woman but decided not to report it until the end of the weekend. — Mark Deming

Review: 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. — Mark Deming