Featured Actress: Madeleine Stowe - "Short" is part of the title of this 1993 quirky collection of stories, but it doesn't describe the movie, which is three hours and 9 minutes long. Surprisingly, it's an excellent way to spend three hours. In fact, there's a lot of surprises in this film by Robert Altman, including nudity by four well-known actresses.
Based on a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver, the film follows a group of Los Angeles residents as they confront normal problems in their everyday lives. As the film jumps from one story to the other, events cause the lives of the participants to intertwine slightly, but each story stays separate. The film ends on a twisty and somewhat shocking note.
This is a top-rate screenplay (which Altman wrote with Frank Barhydt), with top-rate acting by a big name cast. Nudity aside (and the nude scenes are for the most part brief), this is an excellent movie well worth your time.
