SHORT CUTS

'''Short Cuts''' is a 1993 film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver. Substituting a Los Angeles setting for the Pacific Northwest backdrop of Carver's stories, the movie traces the actions of twenty-two principal characters, both in parallel and at occasional points of connection. The role of chance and luck is central to the film, and many of the stories concern death and infidelity. The film was distributed by Fine Line Features.

Contents

Plot

Awards and nominations

Cast

External links

Plot

The film is made up of ten interwoven stories set in and around Los Angeles.
In one of the film's opening scenes, Dr Ralph Wyman (Matthew Modine) and his wife, Marian (Julianne Moore), meet another couple, Stuart and Claire Kane (Fred Ward and Anne Archer) at a concert and make a spontaneous Sunday dinner date, but both marriages show their cracks over the weekend. While Ralph and Marian Wyman avoid a taboo topic that is undermining their marriage, Stuart Kane goes on a fishing trip with some buddies (Buck Henry and Huey Lewis) and they discover a dead body in the water. Upon his return, Claire Kane is repulsed to discover that Stuart and his buddies left the girl in the water until the end of the weekend so they could continue fishing.
Meanwhile, waitress Doreen Piggot (Lily Tomlin), whose lout of a husband (Tom Waits) is a verbally abusive drunk, accidentally hits young Casey Finnigan (Zane Cassidy) with her car. When the little boy walks away from the accident, she assumes he is all right, but never learns the fatal consequences, or the tragic harassment his parents, Howard (Bruce Davison) and Ann Finnegan (Andie MacDowell), must face from the local baker (Lyle Lovett) who is livid because Casey's birthday cake was never picked up. Howard's father, Paul Finnegan (Jack Lemmon) drops by the hospital after a twenty-year absence and relates the story of his own infidelity.
Doreen's daughter, Honey (Lili Taylor) is married to Bill Bush (Robert Downey, Jr.), a man aroused by sadism. Their party buddies, Lois (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Jerry Kaiser (Chris Penn), face a toxic brew of phone sex and jealousy, as Lois earns her living as a phone-sex operator, leaving Jerry with a wife whose attitude toward sex is indifferent at best.
Gene Shepard (Tim Robbins) is an unethical cop who cheats on his wife, Sherri (Madeleine Stowe), and seems oblivious to the fact that his wife long ago had discovered his secret -- and just does not care. Gene's mistress is realtor Betty Weathers (Frances McDormand), and Sherri's ultimate confidante is her sister, Marian Wyman (Julianne Moore). These stories are woven together with musical bridges performed by Zoe (Lori Singer), a depressed cellist, and her embittered, jazz singer mother, Tess (Annie Ross), who live next to the Finnegans. By the end of the three-hour film, the Wymans and Kanes' Sunday dinner obligation turns into an all-night raging party, until everyone's lives are upended by a unifying Monday-morning disaster.
Sometimes the connections among characters are meaningful; other times, they bump into each other randomly in bakeries, bars, hospital waiting rooms, or mix-ups at the Fotomat. In a couple of instances, a moment is repeated, but with different characters and outcomes, emphasizing the role of fate.
A Short Cuts Soundtrack album was issued to accompany the film.

Awards and nominations

Robert Altman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and a nomination for the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay with Frank Barhydt. The cast won a Special Golden Globe Award for their ensemble acting. The movie also won the prestigious Golden Lion and the Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble Cast at the Venice Film Festival.

Cast

★ Fred Ward - Stuart Kane

★ Andie MacDowell - Ann Finnigan

★ Bruce Davison - Howard Finnigan

★ Tim Robbins - Gene Shepard

★ Julianne Moore - Marian Wyman

★ Matthew Modine - Dr. Ralph Wyman

★ Anne Archer - Claire Kane

★ Jennifer Jason Leigh - Lois Kaiser

★ Christopher Penn - Jerry Kaiser

★ Lili Taylor - Honey Bush

★ Robert Downey Jr. - Bill Bush

★ Madeleine Stowe - Sherri Shepard

★ Tom Waits - Earl Piggot

★ Lily Tomlin - Doreen Piggot

★ Frances McDormand - Betty Weathers

★ Peter Gallagher - Stormy Weathers

★ Jarrett Lennon - Chad Weathers

★ Annie Ross - Tess Trainer

★ Lori Singer - Zoe Trainer

★ Jack Lemmon - Paul Finnigan

★ Lyle Lovett - Andy Bitkower

★ Buck Henry - Gordon Johnson

★ Huey Lewis - Vern Miller

★ Dirk Blocker - Diner Customer

External links

★

★ Criterion Collection essay by Michael Wilmington

★ DVD review of Short Cuts