Stars: Lilly Tomlin, Kieth Carradine, Ronee Blakely, Henry Gibson
Plot: Set in Nashville, the Country and Western music capital, we follow 24 characters through 5 days.
Pros: Good acting, a few good songs, Ronne Blakely
Cons: Too long, weak script, mediocre songs, dull characters
Best Quote: Opal: [In an automobile junkyard] I'm wandering in a graveyard. The dead here have no crosses, nor tombstones, nor wreaths to sing of their past glory, but lie in rotting, decaying, rusty heaps, their innards ripped out by greedy, vulturous hands. Their vast, vacant skeletons... sadly sighing to the sky. The rust on their bodies... is the color of dried blood. Dried blood. I'm reminded of... of an elephant's secret burial ground. Yes. Cette aire de mystère. Cette essence de I'irréel. These cars are trying to communicate. O cars, are you trying to tell me something? Are you trying to convey to me some secret...
Hysterically praised by the critics in 1975, "Nashville" hasn't aged well and its difficult to understand its supposed "greatness". A dated satire of C&W music, the movie is 200 minutes long with 60 minutes of C&W song set pieces, most of which are either mediocre or badly sung . Rather than use good, existing C&W songs, or hire some good C&W songwriters, Altman used songs written/co-written by the actors.
We get a lot of boring and mostly unlikable characters
Other characters are meaningless, as they only show up for a few scenes and then disappear. Equally meaningless is a 3rd Party populist candidate whose speeches are broadcast throughout the movie. And like most Altman films, the dialogue seems improvised and is completely forgettable. Finally, although most of the acting is good - some actors (Gibson in particular) are miscast. They're more Malibu than Nashville. They reek of Manhattan/Hollywood & aren't the least bit "country".
Its not all bad of course
Lilly Tomlin and Ronee Blakely both shine in their roles, there's a BBC reporter who's funny plus a few good songs (cf: "I'm easy"). Too bad the movie didn't focus more on Tomlin and Blakely.
So why all the praise?
Probably because (i) Altman was trying to do something original, (ii) critics love 'slice of life' movies (iii) its a satire on Nashville, C&W music, and by extension "middle America" (iv) there's some good acting, and (v) Altman is considered a "great" director.
Summary: Interesting rather than good. Altman fans and fans of mediocre C&W will like it more. Rating **1/2
Pros: Good acting, a few good songs, Ronne Blakely
Cons: Too long, weak script, mediocre songs, dull characters
Best Quote: Opal: [In an automobile junkyard] I'm wandering in a graveyard. The dead here have no crosses, nor tombstones, nor wreaths to sing of their past glory, but lie in rotting, decaying, rusty heaps, their innards ripped out by greedy, vulturous hands. Their vast, vacant skeletons... sadly sighing to the sky. The rust on their bodies... is the color of dried blood. Dried blood. I'm reminded of... of an elephant's secret burial ground. Yes. Cette aire de mystère. Cette essence de I'irréel. These cars are trying to communicate. O cars, are you trying to tell me something? Are you trying to convey to me some secret...
Hysterically praised by the critics in 1975, "Nashville" hasn't aged well and its difficult to understand its supposed "greatness". A dated satire of C&W music, the movie is 200 minutes long with 60 minutes of C&W song set pieces, most of which are either mediocre or badly sung . Rather than use good, existing C&W songs, or hire some good C&W songwriters, Altman used songs written/co-written by the actors.
We get a lot of boring and mostly unlikable characters
Other characters are meaningless, as they only show up for a few scenes and then disappear. Equally meaningless is a 3rd Party populist candidate whose speeches are broadcast throughout the movie. And like most Altman films, the dialogue seems improvised and is completely forgettable. Finally, although most of the acting is good - some actors (Gibson in particular) are miscast. They're more Malibu than Nashville. They reek of Manhattan/Hollywood & aren't the least bit "country".
Its not all bad of course
Lilly Tomlin and Ronee Blakely both shine in their roles, there's a BBC reporter who's funny plus a few good songs (cf: "I'm easy"). Too bad the movie didn't focus more on Tomlin and Blakely.
So why all the praise?
Probably because (i) Altman was trying to do something original, (ii) critics love 'slice of life' movies (iii) its a satire on Nashville, C&W music, and by extension "middle America" (iv) there's some good acting, and (v) Altman is considered a "great" director.
Summary: Interesting rather than good. Altman fans and fans of mediocre C&W will like it more. Rating **1/2
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