This film is so Altmanesque that you might as well watch a Robert Altman film. The inherent problem with mimicking a genius's style is that you'll never be as good as he was. I get that Rudolph is Altman's "protege" and Altman was even a producer on this film, but for the life of me I can't fathom why Altman just didn't direct the film himself...maybe he was busy working on other projects, but if so why water down your artistic legacy with mediocrity. The most egregious problem with this film is the miscasting of Denver Pyle; he might have been good in smaller roles as a hayseed but he simply isn't believable as an executive, and lacks the depth to accurately portray a man who has become distant from his own son. Every line he delivers is flat; he must have known he was struggling in the role, he looks uncomfortable. On the other hand, most of the other actors are terrific: Lauren Hutton, Keith Carridine, Geraldine Chaplin, Harvey Keitel, and Sissy Spacek, all in interwoven Altmanesque stories. My main problem with the film is that it feels very claustrophobic; where Altman tells the big, grand story and dips into the characters every once in a while, Rudolph focuses on the relationships among these vapid people, complete with closeups intended to convey contemplation, wounded pride, happiness, or any other emotion these superficial characters experience. We never really get to know any of them, they appear as strangers at the start of the film and by the end they leave as strangers, which might have been the point that Rudolph was making, but the presentation of this idea isn't sophisticated enough to drive the point home. If it were any good, the music might have redeemed the film, but none of the songs are particularly catchy or memorable, though they are sophisticated. Before last night I had never heard of this film but I'm glad I watched it so I could reminisce about the 70s when cell phones were science fiction and wicker furniture and spider plants were everywhere.

i am in love with this film and i cannot explain why. my uncle thinks i'm a nutcase for loving this film so much. but i can't help it. People diss the music. I love it. The ambiance. The swingin' seventies. Sissy Spacek. Sally Kellermen, so vulnerable yet strangely sexy. Keith. This film endeared me to Keith Carradine, whom I now see precious little of.Such a great character... sure, a little pretentiously boho, but the poor guy has a father that can't express his love... The Greta Garbo scene with Geraldine Chaplin. Classic. The slow act of leaning onto the pool table; her tortured, self-absorbed, self-pitying character, intriguing, passive aggressive, unable to express herself, caught in a loveless relationship with a young Harvey Keitel, who was great in this flick. Slimy. The way he talks to Spacek about taking the relationship far beyond your average man/ woman relationship. Wow. Nice tempo, too. A bit languid. The film is more about atmosphere than fast tempo plot. The bits with Carol Barber chugging back "steamboat", watching Eric Wood play his songs, sinking into the background, while his dad's young girlfriend (who takes pictures of corners - classic) eyes him; intrigued.Swingin' sex, corny yet endearing music ("Livin' in a city of one night stands, sleepin' next to pity and it's crazy"), and Keith Carradine with a love patch. What more could you want?A film that is easy to hate, in many respects, but I just can't do it. It's a guilty pleasure. A guilty, delightful pleasure.

Despite a fabulous cast led by Alan Rudolph regular Keith Carradine, this vacant, flat movie with virtually no plot is easy to classify as a lesser "Nashville" set on the West Coast. I mean, what are the major happenings, Denver Pyle makes Harvey Keitel a partner? Uh . . . that was about it, there's a party. So, why the heck do I like this so much? I've seen it maybe 30 times, even though it's unavailable on any media, at the moment, at least, and every time I watch it all the way through to the last shot of Carridine looking sideways at the camera. I saw it when it first came out, and it stayed in my mind for decades until it started to show up on the movie channels. I can't explain it, the music is nice (particularly "One Night Stands" and "Welcome to L.A."), but the conversation isn't particularly clever (compare "Choose Me" for example). I can't really defend the film, how could I? There's no message, no plot, no outstanding performances to champion . . . I don't know, I just enjoy watching it. Beats me.

This is a bad movie. It wouldn't be worth saying so, except that Alan Rudolph is capable of making moderately entertaining movies (The Moderns, Mrs. Parker, Equinox), and even one very good movie (Choose Me). For a movie about people to work, the characters must either be nice or interesting--an ordinary person may charm us, and even a villain may fascinate us. But this movie has about a dozen characters, none of whom give us any reason either to like them or hate them or be interested in them. A few are given artificial eccentricities, but we can see through the false effort. They wander aimlessly through random meaningless sexual couplings in suburban Los Angeles, accompanied by an unremittingly dreary soundtrack. This is a one-note movie, in which the one note is a sour one.