Short Cuts

The film begins with a fleet of helicopters spraying for medflies, which brings various characters together along the flight path.

Dr. Ralph Wyman and his wife, Marian, meet Stuart Kane, an unemployed salesman, and Claire Kane, a party clown, at a concert Zoe Trainer performs on cello. They impulsively decide to have a Sunday dinner date. Meanwhile, Marian's sister, Sherri, is married to a cheating cop named Gene, who is having an affair with Betty Weathers, while Betty is divorcing one of the helicopter pilots, Stormy.

Among the other characters are Doreen Piggot, a waitress married to an alcoholic limo driver named Earl, and television commentator Howard Finnigan, who lives next door to cabaret singer Tess and her daughter Zoe. Jerry Kaiser, the pool cleaner, is married to Lois, who works from home as a phone sex operator. Jerry and Lois are friends with Honey, Doreen's daughter, and her husband Bill, a makeup artist.

Tragedy strikes when Casey, Howard and Anne's young son, is accidentally hit by Doreen's car. Although he initially seems fine, Casey later falls unconscious at home. The concerned parents rush him to the hospital, where he remains comatose. In the midst of this, the baker Andy Bitkower repeatedly calls the Finnigans to inform them about their ordered cake. However, Howard, wanting to keep the phone line free, abruptly ends the calls, leading to frustration on Andy's part.

Howard's estranged father, Paul, arrives at the hospital and recalls an incident from Howard's childhood, which caused the rift between them. Meanwhile, Stuart and his friends, Gordon and Vern, harass Doreen at the diner before leaving for a fishing trip. During their excursion, they discover the body of a young woman. Contemplating what to do, they decide to tie her to the rocks and continue fishing, only reporting the incident later. Stuart eventually confesses to Claire, who is appalled by their actions and visits the funeral home out of guilt.

Stormy, one of the helicopter pilots, pays a destructive visit to Betty's house while she is away with their son. Gene abandons the family dog due to its barking, but eventually retrieves it after his children express distress. The Wymans have a heated argument before their dinner party with the Kanes, during which Marian admits to having an affair. Both couples resort to heavy drinking, and the party lasts throughout the night.

A glimmer of hope arises when Casey's eyes flutter, but tragically, he suddenly dies, leaving Howard and Anne devastated. Meanwhile, Zoe, overwhelmed by her mother's alcoholism, Casey's death, and her own isolation, commits suicide by starting her car engine inside the garage. Her mother discovers her lifeless body and drinks herself into a stupor.

When Honey picks up pictures from the Fotomat, she finds them mixed up with Gordon's. Honey is shocked to find pictures of the submerged body from Gordon's fishing trip while Gordon equally shocked to find pictures of Honey appearing severely beaten. Disturbed, they part ways but memorize each other's license plates. Later, at a picnic, Jerry and Bill encounter two young women they had met earlier. Bill and one of the girls walk away, only to hear her scream moments before Jerry kills her with a rock. Suddenly, a major earthquake strikes, causing chaos. The aftermath suggests that Jerry's act may be mistakenly attributed to the falling rocks during the earthquake.

{{cast listing|

• Andie MacDowell as Anne Finnigan
• Bruce Davison as Howard Finnigan
• Julianne Moore as Marian Wyman
• Matthew Modine as Dr. Ralph Wyman
• Anne Archer as Claire Kane
• Fred Ward as Stuart Kane
• Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lois Kaiser
• Chris Penn as Jerry Kaiser
• Lili Taylor as Honey Piggot Bush
• Robert Downey Jr. as Bill Bush
• Madeleine Stowe as Sherri Shepard
• Tim Robbins as Gene Shepard
• Lily Tomlin as Doreen Piggot
• Tom Waits as Earl Piggot
• Frances McDormand as Betty Weathers
• Peter Gallagher as Stormy Weathers
• Annie Ross as Tess Trainer
• Lori Singer as Zoe Trainer, the cellist
• Jack Lemmon as Paul Finnigan
• Lyle Lovett as Andy Bitkower
• Buck Henry as Gordon Johnson
• Huey Lewis as Vern Miller
• Charles Rocket as Wally Littleton
• Michael Beach as Jim Stone}}

According to associate producer Mike Kaplan, the screenplay was first written in 1989.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/21/short-cuts-altman-mike-kaplan|title=Bob Altman's big Short Cuts gamble|first=Mike|last=Kaplan|date=21 October 2009|access-date=25 October 2017|website=Theguardian.com}} Filming primarily took place in Los Angeles, California. Principal photography began on July 26, 1992, and ended on October 1, 1992.{{cite web |title=Short Cuts (1993) - Misc Notes |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/18284/short-cuts#notes |access-date=25 October 2017 |website=Turner Classic Movies}}

The film was distributed by Fine Line Features and released in the United States on October 3, 1993.

A special DVD edition was released by the Criterion Collection in 2004 and contains two discs, the collection of Carver's short stories, and an essay booklet on the film.{{cite web |title=Short Cuts |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/376-short-cuts |website=The Criterion Collection }}

Short Cuts received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 95% approval rating, based on 60 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."{{rotten-tomatoes|short_cuts|Short Cuts}} On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 81 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{Metacritic film|title=Short Cuts}}

Roger Ebert 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."{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/short-cuts-1993 |title=Short Cuts |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=October 22, 1993 |website=RogerEbert.com |access-date=December 14, 2018 }} Vincent Canby of The New York Times 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."{{cite news|last=Canby|first=Vincent|author-link=Vincent Canby|date=October 1, 1993|title=Review/Film Festival: Short Cuts; Altman's Tumultuous Panorama|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/01/movies/review-film-festival-short-cuts-altman-s-tumultuous-panorama.html|url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006075053/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/01/movies/review-film-festival-short-cuts-altman-s-tumultuous-panorama.html|archive-date=October 6, 2023|access-date=November 16, 2023|url-access=limited}} Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film four out of four stars and called it "a brilliant companion piece" to The Player.Siskel, Gene (October 22, 1993). "Altman's surreal 'Short Cuts' turns the everyday into art". Chicago Tribune. Section 7, page C. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times 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."{{Cite web |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Turan |date=October 8, 1993 |title=Movie Reviews : Robert Altman Finds His Way to Carverville |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-08-ca-43332-story.html |access-date=July 8, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |page=F12 |language=en-US}} Rita Kempley of The Washington Post panned the film as "a cynical, sexist and shallow work" populated with "whiny, inert and mostly unlikable characters."Kempley, Rita (October 22, 1993). "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/shortcutsrkempley_a0a3c0.htm 'Short Cuts': Back Road To Hell]". The Washington Post C1.

Short Cuts was named one of the best films of 1993 by over 50 film critics.{{cite news |date=9 January 1994 |last1=McGilligan |first1=Pat |last2=Rowl |first2=Mark |title=86 Thumbs Up! For Once, The Nation's Critics Agree on the Year's Best Movies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1994/01/09/86-thumbs-up-for-once-the-nations-critics-agree-on-the-years-best-movies/1bbb0968-690e-4c02-9c8b-0c3b4b5b4a1e/ |newspaper=The Washington Post }} Only The Piano and Schindler's List appeared on more lists.

Altman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director (but lost to Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List) and shared a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay with Barhydt (lost to Steven Zaillian for Schindler's List). The cast won a Special Golden Globe Award for their ensemble acting. The film also won the prestigious Golden Lion and the Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble Cast at the Venice Film Festival.

• Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Mike Mayo, The Roanoke Times{{cite news |last=Mayo |first=Mike |date=December 30, 1994 |title=The Hits and Misses at the Movies in '94 |edition=Metro |page=1 |newspaper=The Roanoke Times |url=https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1994/rt9412/941230/12300096.htm |access-date=July 8, 2022}}
• No. 1. Peter Travers, Rolling Stone{{Cite magazine |last=Travers |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Travers |date=December 23, 1993 |title=The 10 Best Movies of 1993 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/the-10-best-movies-of-1993-174616/ |url-access=registration |access-date=July 8, 2022 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}
• No. 1. Armond White, The City Sun{{Cite web |date=January–February 2000 |title=Film Comment's Best of the Nineties Poll: Part Four |url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/film-comments-best-of-the-90s-poll-part-four/ |access-date=July 8, 2022 |website=Film Comment |publisher=Film at Lincoln Center |language=en}}
• No. 2. Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune{{Cite news |last=Siskel |first=Gene |date=December 18, 1993 |title=These Are The Best Movies of the Year |work=Chicago Tribune}}

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.{{cite book |last=Carver |first=Raymond |date=1993-09-14 |title=Short Cuts: Selected Stories |publisher=Vintage |isbn=978-0679748649}}

1. "Neighbors"
2. "They're Not Your Husband"
3. "Vitamins"
4. "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?"
5. "So Much Water So Close to Home"
6. "A Small, Good Thing"
7. "Jerry and Molly and Sam"
8. "Collectors"
9. "Tell the Women We're Going"
10. "Lemonade" (poem)

Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver County was a behind-the-scenes documentary, featuring interviews with Altman and the cast.{{cite web |author=Oktay Ege Kozak |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2014/10/watch-luck-trust-and-ketchup-a-90-minute-documentary-on-the-making-of-robert-altmans-epic-short-cuts-271142/ |title=Watch: 'Luck, Trust and Ketchup' A 90-Minute Documentary On The Making Of Robert Altman's Epic 'Short Cuts' |publisher=IndieWire |date=2014-10-20 |access-date=2022-02-13}}{{cite web |last=Parkinson |first=David |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-mjwmqr/luck-trust-ketchup/ |title=Luck, Trust & Ketchup (1994) |publisher=Radio Times |date= |access-date=2022-02-13}}

Anne Rapp, who wrote Cookie's Fortune and Dr. T & The Women for Altman, was commissioned to adapt more Carver stories into a screenplay which he did not film.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/11/style/IHT-the-art-of-making-the-impossible-look-easy.html |title=The Art of Making the Impossible Look Easy |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1998-04-11 |access-date=2022-02-13}}

{{Reflist}}

{{wikiquotepar|Short Cuts}}

• {{IMDb title|0108122}}
• {{tcmdb title|18284}}
• [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/349-short-cuts-city-symphony Short Cuts: City Symphony] an essay by Michael Wilmington at the Criterion Collection
• {{IMDb title|id=0107455|title=Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver County}}

{{Robert Altman}}

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{{Guldbagge Award Best Foreign Film}}

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Category:1993 comedy-drama films

Category:1993 films

Category:American comedy-drama films

Category:Best Foreign Film Guldbagge Award winners

Category:1990s English-language films

Category:Films based on multiple works

Category:Films based on poems

Category:Films based on American short stories

Category:Films directed by Robert Altman

Category:Films based on works by Raymond Carver

Category:Films scored by Mark Isham

Category:Films set in Los Angeles

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Category:Independent Spirit Award for Best Film winners

Category:American independent films

Category:1993 independent films

Category:Films about adultery in the United States

Category:Films about child death

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Category:1990s American films

Category:English-language independent films

Category:English-language comedy-drama films