“I hate L.A. All they do is snort coke and talk.” – Tess Trainer
Number of Times Seen – 2 (31 Dec 2004 and 19 Aug 2018)
Brief Synopsis – Anthology of stories of people living in LA who’s lives cross paths over the course of time.
My Take on it – This film takes the idea of neighbors to a whole new level.
I have always been fascinated by the way that these kind of stories are presented and Robert Altman does wonders with this one.
We are expertly given 10 distinct storylines that keep crisscrossing back and forth and touching one another yet still all remain unique.
These stories are all regular stories that come across as being quite realistic and its so easy to relate to each and every one of the characters the whole time.
It is conceivable that these are all real people that we could easily come across during a daily routine without much extra effort.
The characters and storylines are built up really well and we get a clear idea as to who everyone is and what they are trying to do.
For being able to manage these stories so well, Altman deservingly was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director for this film because in lesser hands, it’s quite possible that this would have been a mess instead of watching a near perfect balance between these storylines.
The cast is superb and I loved the way that there really is no main character and each of them has equal footing.
This allows for the city of LA and it’s characteristics to be the real stars of this film.
This is the kind of film that can be rewatched over and over and new things can be discovered each and every time because it is so deep.
Bottom Line – Amazing idea that works extremely well. Altman manages to give us 10 different short stories and finds a way to keep them all interesting as we slowly see how they all intercept which gives new meaning to the idea of neighbors. All of the stories presented seem quite realistic and the way they all play out help the viewer relate to them even better because they are all people who we could conceivably come in contact with at some point in our day to day lives. Altman was deserivingly nominated for an Oscar for Best Director for this film which in lesser hands would seem like a mess, but he manages to balance the stories so well here. The cats is superb and I loved how none of the actors seems to be the lead since the city itself and its occupants are the real stars of the story. Highly Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – In preparation for her role as a phone-sex operator in the film, Leigh spent time in actual phone-sex offices researching her role, during which time she claims to have read the call logs and recognized some prominent names, including two film directors she personally knew. (From IMDB)
Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10)
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MovieRob 
Great piece of trivia – but “researching” a role like that – where you talk dirty on the phone – seems like overkill. She’s an actress. As Hitchcock once told Ingrid Bergman, “It’s just a movie…”
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Method acting i guess 😉
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A great ensemble piece it must be said.
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I’ve never heard of this one, but I usually love movies like this. Will have to add it my to-watch list. Thanks for the recommendation!
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