''Short Cuts'' is a 1993 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

, directed by

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

. Filmed from a screenplay by Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

and a poem by

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mi ...

. The film has a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

setting, which is substituted for the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

backdrop of Carver's stories. ''Short Cuts'' traces the actions of 22 principal characters, both in parallel and at occasional loose 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 features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

including

Matthew Modine Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, a ...

Fred Ward Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022) was an American actor and producer. Starting with a role in an Italian television movie in 1973, he appeared in such diverse films as '' Escape from Alcatraz'', ''Southern Comfort'', '' The R ...

Anne Archer Anne Archer (born August 24, 1947) is an American actress. Archer was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971, and in the year following, appeared in her feature film debut ''The Honkers'' (1972). She had supporting roles in ''Cancel My Reservation'' (1 ...

Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough as Stacy Hamilton in ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). She ...

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

Madeleine Stowe Madeleine Marie Stowe Mora (born August 18, 1958) is an American actress. She appeared mostly on television before her role in the 1987 crime-comedy film ''Stakeout''. She went on to star in the films ''Revenge'' (1990), ''Unlawful Entry'' (199 ...

Chris Penn Christopher Shannon Penn (October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006) was an American actor. He was the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. Noted as a skilled character actor from a prominent acting dynasty, he was typically cast as ...

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...

Frances McDormand Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Em ...

Lori Singer Lori Singer (born November 6, 1957) is an American actress and musician. The daughter of conductor Jacques Singer, she was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and raised in Portland, Oregon, where her father served as the lead conductor of the Oreg ...

Andie MacDowell Rosalie Anderson MacDowell (born April 21, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model. MacDowell's known for her starring film roles in romantic comedies and dramas. MacDowell has modeled for Calvin Klein and has been a spokeswoman ...

Buck Henry Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020) was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's ''The Graduate'' (1967) for which he re ...

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the vari ...

, actress and singer

Annie Ross Annabelle McCauley Allan Short (25 July 193021 July 2020), known professionally as Annie Ross, was a British-American singer and actress, best known as a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Early life Ross was born in Surr ...

, and musicians

Huey Lewis Hugh Anthony Cregg III (born July 5, 1950), known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band, Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many o ...

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

, and

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Plot

A fleet of helicopters sprays for medflies and reveals all the characters along the path of their flight. Dr. Ralph Wyman and his wife, Marian, meet another couple, Stuart and Claire Kane–an out-of-work salesman and a party clown respectively–at Zoe Trainer's cello concert and make a spontaneous Sunday dinner date. Marian's sister, Sherri, is married to philandering cop Gene, who invents unbelievable stories to hide his affair with Betty Weathers. Betty is in the process of divorcing one of the helicopter pilots, Stormy. Waitress Doreen Piggot is married to an alcoholic limo driver, Earl. Television commentator Howard Finnigan lives with his wife, Anne, and their young son, Casey, next door to Zoe and her mother, cabaret singer Tess. Their pool cleaner is Jerry Kaiser, whose wife, Lois, works from home as a phone sex operator, tending to the children while she talks off strange men. Jerry and Lois are friends with Doreen's daughter, Honey, and her husband, Bill, who works as a makeup artist. The day before Casey's eighth birthday, Doreen hits him with her car as he is running to school. Casey appears fine and refuses Doreen's offer of a ride home, as she is a stranger. His mother Anne comes home from ordering his birthday cake to find him slumped lethargically on the couch. His father Howard convinces her to take Casey to the hospital, where he remains unconscious. The baker, Andy Bitkower, calls the next day to inform Ann that the cake is ready, but Howard, wanting to keep the line free, briskly ends the conversation. The baker immediately calls back, incensed at being hung up on. While the Finnigans maintain their vigil, Bitkower continues to call and harass the couple. Howard's estranged father Paul turns up at the hospital and recalls that Casey's hospitalization reminds him of the day that Howard was in a car accident as a boy. When Howard's mother went to her sister's house, she found her undressed in the presence of her husband, who she was attempting to seduce. That led to the estrangement between father and son. Stuart and his two friends, Gordon and Vern, harass Doreen at the diner before they head out on their three-day fishing trip. On the first day, they find a young woman's body, submerged near some rocks. After some debate, they decide to tie her to the rocks, continue fishing, and report the body when they are done. When he comes home, Stuart eventually admits to Claire what they had done, and she is disgusted that they could fish for days with the woman's body nearby. The body is identified as a 23-year-old woman who was raped and murdered, and Claire visits the funeral home out of a sense of guilt. Stormy visits Betty's house while she is away with their son Chad (Jarrett Lennon), ostensibly to pick up his mother's clock, but instead spends the day destroying her belongings. Bill and Honey entertain themselves in the apartment that they are watching while its owners are on vacation by taking some pictures of Honey in which Bill has made her up to look as if she has been brutally beaten. Gene abandons the family dog on a strange street because he cannot endure its barking, but after several days of his distraught children's inquiries, he returns to the neighbourhood and retrieves the dog, who has been picked up by Vern's family. The Wymans get into a massive argument just before their dinner party with the Kanes. Marian admits to an affair. Both couples alleviate their stress by drinking heavily, and the party lasts all night long. One day, Casey's eyes begin to flutter. Anne's excitement grows, but just as he appears to be waking, he suddenly dies. Seeing that and being overwhelmed, Howard's father and the boy's grandfather, Paul, leaves the hospital while the distraught couple returns home and informs Zoe of Casey's death. The next day, they go to the bakery to shame Bitkower over his abuse of them. When he learns why they never picked up the cake, he asks them to stay and gives them baked goods. Zoe, worn to the breaking point by her mother's alcoholism, the little boy's death and her isolation, commits suicide by starting her car engine inside the garage; she plays the cello as she asphyxiates from carbon monoxide. Later that day, her mother discovers Zoe dead and drinks herself into a stupor. When Honey picks up the pictures from the fotomat, they are mixed up with Gordon's. He is horrified to see the pictures of Honey, who appears to have been beaten badly, and she is horrified by the pictures Gordon took of the submerged body on his fishing trip. They walk away from each other, memorizing each other's license plates. While at a picnic in the park with their wives and kids, Jerry and Bill meet two young women they encountered earlier, and Bill quickly makes an excuse to divvy up into couples. As he and one of the girls walk away from Jerry and the other girl (Susie Cusack), they hear her scream. They turn around to see Jerry hitting her in the head repeatedly with a rock, killing her, just before a major earthquake strikes. In the aftermath, it appears that Jerry's murder of the girl may be attributed to a rock falling during the earthquake.

Cast

Production

According to associate producer Mike Kaplan, the screenplay was first written in 1989. Filming primarily took place in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began on July 26, 1992, and ended on October 1, 1992.

Release

The film was distributed by

Fine Line Features Fine Line Features (often spelled as FineLine Features) was the specialty films division of New Line Cinema. From 1991 to 2005, under founder and president Ira Deutchman, Fine Line acquired, distributed and marketed films of a more "indie" flavor ...

and released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on October 3, 1993. A special DVD edition was released by the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

in 2004 and contains two discs, the collection of Carver's short stories, and an essay booklet on the film.

Reception

''Short Cuts'' received positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds a 95% approval rating, based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Robert Altman's ensemble drama deftly integrates its disparate characters and episodes into a funny, poignant, emotionally satisfying whole." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film holds a score of 79 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film four out of four stars and wrote: "Los Angeles always seems to be waiting for something. Permanence seems out of reach; some great apocalyptic event is on the horizon, and people view the future tentatively. Robert Altman's 'Short Cuts' captures that uneasiness perfectly in its interlocking stories about people who seem trapped in the present, always juggling."

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "The lives are often desperate and the characters inarticulate, but the group portrait is as grandly, sometimes as hilariously, realized as anything the director has ever done."

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' gave the film four out of four stars and called it "a brilliant companion piece" to '' The Player''.

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that the film "is not equally involving all the time. Some performances are stronger than others, some situations more entertaining, and some choices Altman has made, like an overreliance on female nudity that borders on the exploitative, difficult to defend. But whenever interest lags, a look, a moment, a ''frisson'' of regret will cross the screen and the emotional connection is restored." Rita Kempley of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' panned the film as "a cynical, sexist and shallow work" populated with "whiny, inert and mostly unlikable characters."

Accolades

''Short Cuts'' was named one of the best films of 1993 by over 50 film critics. Only ''

The Piano ''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Jane Campion. Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin in her first major acting role, the film focuses on a Elective mutism, mute Scott ...

'' and ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...

'' appeared on more lists. Altman was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibi ...

(but lost to

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

for ''

'') and shared a nomination for the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Best Screenplay with Barhydt (lost to

Steven Zaillian Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for his screenplay ''Schindler's List'' (1993) and has ...

for ''Schindler's List''). The cast won a Special Golden Globe Award for their ensemble acting. The film also won the prestigious

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...

and the

Volpi Cup The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

for Best Ensemble Cast at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

Year-end lists

* Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Mike Mayo, ''

The Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

'' * No. 1.

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...

, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' * No. 1.

Armond White Armond White (born ) is an American film and music critic who writes for ''National Review'' and ''Out''. He was previously the editor of '' CityArts'' (2011–2014), the lead film critic for the alternative weekly ''New York Press'' (1997–201 ...

, '' The City Sun'' * No. 2.

, ''

Book

A book was released to accompany the film, which compiled the nine short stories and one poem that inspired it. Altman wrote an introduction to this collection, which featured insights into the making of the film and his own thoughts about Carver's stories. # " Neighbors" # " They're Not Your Husband" # "

Vitamins A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrien ...

" # "

Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? ''Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'' (1976) was the first major-press short-story collection by American writer Raymond Carver. Described by contemporary critics as a foundational text of minimalist fiction, its stories offered an incisive and i ...

" # "So Much Water So Close to Home" # "A Small, Good Thing" # "Jerry and Molly and Sam" # "Collectors" # "Tell the Women We're Going" # "Lemonade" (poem)

Documentary

''Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver County'' was a behind-the-scenes documentary, featuring interviews with Altman and the cast.

Unfilmed sequel

Anne Rapp Anne Rapp is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and script supervisor. She has worked on more than 50 feature films since 1981 and collaborated with filmmaker Robert Altman during the last decade of his career. Early life Rapp was born in Texa ...

, who wrote ''

Cookie's Fortune ''Cookie's Fortune'' is a 1999 American black comedy film directed by Robert Altman and starring Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler, Patricia Neal, Charles S. Dutton, and Chris O'Donnell. It follows a dysfunctional family in small-town Missi ...

'' and '' Dr. T & The Women'' for Altman, was commissioned to adapt more Carver stories into a screenplay which he did not film.

References

External links

* * *
''Short Cuts: City Symphony''
an essay by Michael Wilmington at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Short Cuts 1993 comedy-drama films 1993 films American comedy-drama films Best Foreign Film Guldbagge Award winners 1990s English-language films Films based on multiple works Films based on poems Films based on short fiction Films directed by Robert Altman Films scored by Mark Isham Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Independent Spirit Award for Best Film winners American independent films 1993 independent films Adultery in films Films about couples Films about death BDSM in films Golden Lion winners Hyperlink films Spelling Films films + 1990s American films