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Director: |
Robert Altman
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Starring: |
Tim Robbins, Madeleine Stowe, Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Peter Gallagher, Frances McDormand, Chris Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Matthew Modine, Julianne Moore, Tom Waits, Lily Tomlin, Annie Ross, Lori Singer
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Genres: |
Drama, Indie-Arthouse Cinema
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Origin: |
USA
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Certificate: |
MA
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Languages: |
English
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Running Time: |
187 min
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Using the short stories of Raymond Carver as a jumping-off point, Robert Altman weaves a tapestry of interlocking tales set against the seedy backdrop of contemporary middle-class Los Angeles. Tracking the various stages of denial, rage, and despair in the lives of several couples - a philandering cop and his masochistic spouse (Tim Robbins and Madeline Stowe); a helicopter pilot who gets revenge on his ex by trashing her house (Peter Gallagher and Frances McDormand); a man and woman whose perfect life falls apart when they lose their son in a hit-and-run accident (Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell); a pool cleaner who listens in mounting frustration to his wife performing phone sex each day while tending her brood of children (Chris Penn and Jennifer Jason Leigh); a wealthy couple who are haunted by an incident from the past (Matthew Modine and Julianne Moore); an aging jazz singer and her suicidal daughter (Annie Ross and Lori Singer); an alcoholic limo driver and his waitress wife (Tom Waits and Lily Tomlin)--Altman reveals their common threads of family dysfunction and marital discord in the unforgiving glare of the Southern Californian sunlight. The result is a sweeping motion picture that also stands as an important sociological artifact of late 20th century Los Angeles life.
*MR
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