McCabe & Mrs. Miller
 | Directed by Robert Altman Starring: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois, William Devane, John Schuck Warner Bros. Pictures, 1971, DVD Customer Rating: 75 reviews Recommend |
|---|
- One of Robert Altman's most provocative films turns the Wild West on it's ear. Warren Beatty and Julie Christie are a small-time gambler and a madam who go into business together.Year: 1971Running Time: 121 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN Rating: R Age: 085391105527 UPC: 085391105527 Manufacturer No: 11055
With winnings from a small-time card hustle, McCabe buys three girls and sets up a makeshift whorehouse and casino. A madame talks him into backing a real bordello complete with professionals from Seattle.
Genre: Westerns
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-JUN-2002
Media Type: DVD
Iconoclastic director Robert Altman (Nashville, M.A.S.H.), deconstructs and demythologizes Hollywood's typically romantic vision of the Old West in this haunting, breathtaking masterpiece. A stranger, McCabe (Warren Beatty's best performance), the film's nonheroic protagonist, rides into a dead northwest mountain town (to the mournful sounds of Leonard Cohen), possessing ambitious entrepreneurial dreams of expansion. As the town grows, Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie's finest role, as well), a tough madam, arrives and convinces McCabe to join her in a partnership. Neither are typical Western archetypes: McCabe's an insecure braggart, bumbling lover, and horrible businessman, while Mrs. Miller, hardly a whore with a heart of gold, favors her opium pipe to her partner's romantic advances. Altman, meanwhile, buries these central characters within the town's complex, richly detailed tapestry of characters, preferring to eavesdrop on their overlapping conversations and study the bleak, harsh conditions of their lifestyles. At its core, the film addresses the sacrifices of individualism needed in order to build a community, an American concept that the independent Altman views with skeptical irony. The inevitable final shoot-out underscores the theme. Because McCabe refuses to sell the town he built to a corporation, hired bounty hunters are sent. Instead of a showdown at high noon, the finale — one of Altman's most beautiful set pieces — takes place in the snow, guerilla warfare style. As McCabe runs and hides for his life, the town he created preoccupies itself with saving a burning church instead of their creator, while Mrs. Miller, stoned and grinning, detaches herself from either concern. Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond captures the town's brutal textures in luminous Cinemascope. — Dave McCoy
Title: McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Sales Rank: 9807 in DVD
Actor: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois, William Devane, John Schuck
Director: Robert Altman
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2002-06-04, Theatrical Release: 1971-06-24
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Acpect Ratio 2.35:1
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Japanese (Subtitled)
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 121 minutes
Item Dimensions: 0.2 pounds
Package Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches, 0.2 pounds
- SORRY, THIS EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES
- Before Altman fans eviscerate my review, let me start by saying I'm one of you. I think Altman was a true genius and one of our most consistently brilliant filmmakers. I admire and enjoy his films going as far back as "Countdown" and continuing through "Gosford Park." I especially enjoy his films from the seventies, and consider "Brewster McCloud" and "California… More reviews
- Altman Agonistes
- If you like Altman, you may like this, but Christie is horribly miscast as the female lead and Beatty, as the male lead, might as well have "mailed in" his performance. With Altman, it's not so much about the actors as it is Altman.
This was agonizing, although possibly not as agonizing as Buffalo Bill and the Indians.
As… More reviews
- Strong performances can't really save this messy and uninteresting film...
- Robert Altman is an acquired taste for me. It never fails that I either love or hate his work. I am a firm believer in the idea that `Short Cuts' is one of the greatest films of all time, and I truly adored `The Player' and to a lesser degree `Gosford Park'. I thought I liked `A Prairie Home Companion' until it got about halfway through and the script… More reviews
- Warning: Poor Image Quality
- A five star film for story, cinematography and music. However, the image quality fo the transfer is very problematic. There is a "grain" on many of the shots which is not film grain. Film grain constantly changes instant by instant as the individual silver halide particles in each frams differs. By contrast, on this trsnsfer, the "grain" is unchanging, static and persists between shots.… More reviews
- My Favorite Western!
- It's Altman at his best, with a cast that clearly believed in him and relished the opportunity to be directed by him. This movie is as close to cinematic poetry as you're ever gonna get. Altman demonstrates his gift and mastery at mood, texture and tone, while skillfully adding rich layers of nuance and wit to this somewhat simple tale of a complex man -- or is McCabe… More reviews
