In the tradition of Nashville and Short Cuts comes another interweaving mix of odd tales set during a Parisian fashion show with an all star cast.Robert Altman is a true pro and one of American cinema's greats. Here, his slick directing, coupled with a snazzy and peppy soundtrack, and a veritable cornucopia of top actors keep things moving along well enough in his 1994 fashion satire to avoid boredom. But, unlike his other multi-strand tales like 'Nashville' and 'Short Cuts', the various stories never feel as satisfying or well connected.In fact, several are almost perfunctory and have absolutely nothing to do with the fashion trade (especially the Robbins-Roberts & Everett threads, neither of which feel important and lack full resolution). And alas, even then, the ones that do offer nothing biting, insightful or new to say about this sometimes crazy and backhanded business except the same tired 'natural is more beautiful' spiel. It's a shame too as the film is never out and out boring, but it just makes me wish for more. It had everything needed for a great film, and it ended up being just an okay one.Why, oh why, Bob?

No one can argue that Altman is a brilliant film-maker. But at least have the guts to say that this was not his finest hour.The film was a hodgepodge of scenes that was suppose to fit together nicely as we get to the ending as the models walk out on stage wearing nothing but lipstick. But in reality, this film was like watching clips from 'The Carol Burnett Show'. Some of the things in the movie are very well done. But the scenes did not fit together to make a coherent flow- as it seemed we drifted from situation to situation without a cause or purpose. Was not sure if this was suppose to be a comedy or a revelation of the fashion industry. Either way it was lost in the translation.This movie goes to prove, that even with a star-studded cast, you need a story that at least flows to reach a certain point for the audience to comprehend. This movie does not flow. In this collection of clips, there are some funny moments and some serious moments. While the moments are nice they cannot hid the fact the story was lacking.

As another review wrote: "Altman was clearly saying with this film how ridiculous the fashion industry is." Unfortunately, you have to endure 2 hours of completely boring, unfunny "French farce" to get to the part of the film that makes this point. (That would be the last 5 minutes of the film) I could not stay awake through this totally predictable bore-fest.Julia Roberts gives a robotic performance here, and a list of incredibly talented actors and actresses are just wasted on a dull, uninspired script. The movie seems so contrived because of the bad direction, either that, or it was supposed to be a satire of "farce films". Either way, I thought this movie sucked.

There's one thing in this film that I love in a very film nerdish sort of way and that is Danny Aiello's character, which is, in a strange way, a homage to an earlier character in Altman's California Split (a film well worth revisiting). And while some of the characters may seem over the top, my own experience in the fashion world would attest to them being pretty realistic. While it feels as fragmented as any Altman, there is a story here, and it's a pretty subtle one, but perfectly satisfactory in my opinion. I think the film, overall, is woefully under-rated. I feel like everyone got caught up in the idea of "ALTMAN" and then got confused by "THE STARS" and then didn't really bother to look at the movie, which has some lovely grace and is well worth the time. Then again, why listen to me, I liked Ishtar.