Rating: 
Summary: ACCIDENTS OF TRUTH AND ERROR
Review:
The ambitious SHORT CUTS (Criterion) is the clever collaboration of two great American artists, writer Raymond Carver and director Robert Altman. This saturnine look at L.A. life in the 90s follows eight interweaving stories centered around the idea of life's randomness. All have equal weight, but for me the most memorable is the one about a group of friends who decide to keep fishing after finding a body floating in the river.
Not exactly a dark comedy, but more a set of parables about the price paid for disconnecting from a moral imperative; i.e., choosing (knowingly or not) to sidestep authentic moral action.
A large, talented and brave cast work wonders with bold scenes that surprise with moments of accidental truth. There's a treasure trove of archival extras as well as a paperback of Carver's memorable stories. As time passes, this sometimes subtle and sometimes jolting film just grows and grows in my admiration. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Altman's Best Film of the '90s
Review: After the critical and commercial success of The Player put Robert Altman back on the map-within the Hollywood industry-he wisely used his new found (and fleeting) cache to get a personal project of his green-lighted. With Short Cuts, he took several of Raymond Carver's acclaimed short stories and weaved an intricate tapestry of the lives of 22 different characters living in Los Angeles. Having languished on VHS for far too long, Criterion has acquired the DVD rights and assembled another definitive edition of this important movie.
Criterion has assembled an excellent package of supplemental material that is divided between the film and its inspiration, Carver's stories. In a nice touch, a book with nine of Carver's short stories and one poem is included with the DVDs.
Included on the first disc is an isolated music track that allows one to appreciate the music created for the film.
The second disc starts off with two deleted scenes and an alternate take. This includes Gene chastising his wife for smoking and Anne Archer's clown performing at a pool party.
Also included are three rough music demos of songs written by Dr. John (who also performs them) and Doc Pomus that were eventually used in the movie.
The centerpiece of this disc is the excellent feature-length documentary on the making of the movie, entitled Luck, Trust and Ketchup. There is a lot of excellent on-the-set footage of Altman working with his cast. This is a solid, in-depth look at the creative process.
"BBC: Moving Pictures" is a BBC TV look at the development of Carver's short story, "Jerry and Molly and Sam" for the movie. Tim Robbins and Frances McDormand read from the actual story and talk about the movie.
"Marketing" includes a gallery of various posters, ad campaigns, two trailers and six TV spots that show how the studio struggled with how to market this challenging movie.
"To Write and Keep Kind" is a PBS documentary on the life and work of Raymond Carver. Friends, family and contemporaries talk about the man and his work.
"Carver Audio Interview" is one of the few existing interviews with the man that was conducted in 1983. He talks about his life and writing.
Finally, one of the most enjoyable extras is "Reflections on Short Cuts," a conversation between Altman and Tim Robbins done in June 2004 especially for the DVD. Altman talks about the creative freedom he had in the `70s. He also tells some great anecdotes in this engaging discussion.
Short Cuts was a critical darling and would later inspire Paul Thomas Anderson's magnum opus, Magnolia, a love letter to Altman's movie. The veteran director has created several memorable films since then but nothing on the ambitious scale or that resonates quite like Short Cuts does. Criterion has assembled a fantastic 2-DVD set that is up to their usual high standards.
Rating:
Summary: AN ACRID BUT INTRIGUING BANQUET OF CLIPS FROM EVERYDAY LIVES
Review: Altman's singature classic with twenty two characters and ten nearly distinct tales. Imagine the ingenuity required to interweave all of that into a seamless whole, but Altman manages the feat deliciously. While the individual threads may coax discussion, it is their blending that enables a variety of perspectives. Most of them are poignant, for instance the life of a pool cleaner and his wife who vocalizes orgasms on the phone in her job as a tele-sex worker while changing her kids' diapers. Or the life of a couple whose son has been in a tragic accident that brings their lives to an abrupt halt. Etc. Be warned, many of these vignettes, while very tautly scripted and cleverly screenplayed, remain "unresolved," which may not work for some viewers. Personally I feel that films like this are more genuine reflections of the world in which we live: people often don't change, questions are frequently left unanswered, and unbecoming things do happen every day. It's a pure pleasure to find a movie that weaves such a deep and intelligent tapestry of human lives, with all their idiosynchratic travails and triumphs. An absolute gem for you to own, not just rent.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I saw this movie when it first came out and found it SO engrossing! While long, the film keeps your attention the whole time, and I thought every plot line was totally intriguing. I recently saw "Magnolia" and felt disappointed that it wasn't as good as "Short Cuts", although the potential was there. Jennifer Jason Leigh's character sticks in my mind, particularly when she's doing phone sex while diapering her baby! It was absurdly dark scenes like that which made me think Altman had a great knack for observing human nature. I thought the whole cast was excellent and I loved the way the stories intertwined. To the reviewer who thought the earthquake was out of place, I think they misunderstood the whole device as a way of tying everyone together - 'we're all in the same boat' so to speak. I left feeling better about this whacky, often tragic world we live in. It makes you think a lot about how we relate to those around us, whether we ever meet the people we interact with on a daily basis or not. Brilliant!
Rating:
Summary: Another viewing 10 years on
Review: I watched this 10 years ago upon its first release. If i have to compare it with Altman's NASHVILLE, SHORT CUTS pales in comparison. Even back then, I thought there was something missing in the jigsaw.
10 years on, I'm thinking of buying the DVD. However, I found the laserdisc in my collection that I bought a year or so ago for next to nothing, so I gave it a spin before committing to a new purchase. The Verdict? At 3 hours long, I thought the characters should have ample space to develop. However, in most cases, they seemed cold and distance. Maybe this is L.A., and this is how the residents act. But it doesn't make a very good film. Altman's directing is certainly a hit and miss affair, and these days, they are mostly misses, no offence.
I love NASHVILLE. My life change ever since I saw it on TV when I was 14. It led me to an understanding of the world. I love Paul Thomas Anderson's MAGNOLIA, and it was THE last great masterpiece of the 20th Century. I hope Altman's films would get better somehow. Like Dr T and SHORT CUTS, and even GOSFORD PARK they drift, but don't necessarily go very far.
Mind you, I'm glad I found my way to NASVILLE, although I've never been there.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware...
Review: If you liked the original stories, this version may prove a disappointment. Carver has a distinct tone, and this movie comes close, but I don't want a game of horseshoes. This movie is much too bright and shiny (you'll see what I mean) to hold true to the originals. As a movie, it is good. As an adaptation of Carver, I'd have to say it stinks.
Rating:
Summary: okay
Review: Minus the critical acclaim, buzz, influence over films like Magnolia, Short Cuts, on its own, is a mediocre movie. Despite the best efforts of around a dozen talented actors and a director who obviously knows his stuff, Robert Altman, this movie is an exercise in redundancy and misery. Many of the stories fail to make a worthy case as to why they need to be told in a movie. However, Short Cuts has a few scenes so brilliant and affecting that they are worth the rental (or purchase price) alone. The intersecting storylines tell a story about a group of fishermen who discover a dead body, a grieving family (Andie MacDowell), a married couple with skeletons in the closet (Julianne Moore and Matthew Modine) a drunkard and his waitress girlfriend (Tom Waits and Lily Tomlin), a depressed cellist (Lori Singer) a philandering cop with a wife and family back home (Tim Robbins and Madeleine Stowe) and a sketchy make-up artist and his girlfriend (Robert Downey Jr. and Lily Taylor). The incredible number of stories and stars may seem mind-boggling, but it's the least of the film's problems. In fact the strong acting and richness of the collective stories are the film's high point. All the actors are great in one way or another, but Julianne Moore's performance is stunning. Jack Lemmon is similarly incredible. These two have to be seen to be believed. However, with so many stories, all of them won't measure up to high quality. Short Cuts main problem is that a whole lot don't measure up. By the way, there's a lot of nudity in this film, profanity, sex, and overall depressing material.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful Adaption of Raymond Carver
Review: Robert Altman does a masterful job bringing Raymond Carver's writings to the screen. That being said, the viewer should know that they are not going to be watching a fun family film or belly laugh comedy. If you are not prepared for that don't watch this movie. The mood of this movie has an underlying tension and is taut throughout much like Carver's stories. Carver writes about everyday people and the emotions and lives that affect everyday characters that, although you and I may not know them, exist. These are the people that you may see sitting at the diner by themselves staring at their coffee - the diner that you stop into traveling through a non-descript gray town on the way to some better place. Did you ever stop to think what that person was thinking?
One comment I wish to make is that, while Carver didn't place his stories in Los Angeles, I think the setting of Los Angeles by Altman is perfect. Living in Los Angeles for a few years, and not being a native Angelino, I believe this movie captures the mood of the real Los Angeles and life in it perfectly. This is how it feels to live in Los Angeles and, despite the aloofness and underlying tension that surrounds this city, you may grow to love it. The glitz and glamour is so superficial. It is a dark and hard and sometimes unpleasant place behind the facade. These types of people are those that you may run into on any given day. These are the apartments, diners, strip malls, jazz clubs and homes that you will see and maybe frequent. Los Angeles lends itself to these stories very well and Altman has done a tremendous job here.
This movie is like the sound of your morning paper that you read over coffee and a cigarette at midnight, this movie is like staring at people and panhandlers at a cafe in Sherman Oaks, this movie is like a mesmerizing late night drive through the city, this movie is like the cold glow of fluorescent lights, this movie is like watching the simmering lights of the city of LA looking from Griffith Park. Dark yet somehow uplifting at the same time, it is not an "easy" or "mindless" watch. It takes you through the whole gamut of emotions. Difficult at times. Dark at times. Uplifting at times. Very Real. Spend the time it takes to lose yourself in this movie and let it take you where it wants to take you. Like a Raymond Carver story, it might not make you feel good but it will affect you. In that regard, this is a great film.
Rating:
Summary: It's Long but it Resonates!
Review: Robert Altman takes another large cast and tells engrossing, interconnected and overlapping tales of modern LA life as no one else can. Based on the short stories of Raymond Carver, yes, the movie is long, 189 minutes long to be exact. But what stories! They echoed and resonated and stayed with me and I can't imagine what you would cut. So, its 189 minutes. Take your time. There isn't a "movie minute" in the whole film, which doesn't mean there aren't surprises. These people act like real people, they do what real people do, which means they surpise the hell out of you all the time. Character is revealed not so much by words but by unanticipated responses and actions. I don't want to divulge too much of the individual stories as it would spoil the moments of revelation. Suffice it to say, Tim Robbin's arrogant philandering motorcyle cop, Fred Ward's obtuse & callous fisherman, Lori Singer's sad cellist, Jack Lemmon's pathetic loser, Lily Tomlin & Tom Waits alcoholic trailer trash, Lyle Lovett's mistaken baker, Chris Penn's inwardly raging pool- cleaner, Davidson's & MacDowell's anxious parents, Modine's jealous surgeon, Gallagher's vengeful Ex, and all the other terrific performances both light and dark, will stay with you when the movie has ended. This is Altman back doing what Altman does best, catching lightning in a bottle, and great performances on celluloid. First rate!
Rating:
Summary: Altman at his best
Review: Some reviewers despise this movie because of the humor, some because to them it doesn't represent Carver's work properly. Well, taste differs, so that's for them to decide.
To me the film's humor is terrific. I get the feeling Altman got to do what he wanted without too many studio people telling him what to leave out. Sure, some characters are despicable, others are nervous wrecks. But some of them are nice and friendly - though often with a few hilarious ticks.
It's as if you are peeking in on parts of these people's lives - watching the mess through pink and orange sunglasses. You're involved from the first scene on, you judge and despise and you laugh until you can't no more.
And if at first you disagree with Altman's view of Carver, read the book - it comes along with the set.
Truely magnificent!!!!!
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