People adore this movie - Pauline Kael, Richard Curtis, among many, many others. When you talk about Robert Altman masterpieces it gets ranked with MASH, McCabe and Mrs Miller, The Long Goodbye, The Player and Gosford Park.
I've got to be honest - I don't like it. I don't hate it - I just feel overwhelming indifference. It goes for so long, isn't that funny or moving; I found The Player and MASH insightful, but not this movie. Geraldine Chaplin's reporter got on my nerves after a while, the political stuff was a drag (was it meant to be satirical? was it meant to have a point?), the strip club scene just made me feel awkward (which I guess was the point - still didn't like watching it). There's too many bits where you go "oh that's random" but it doesn't feel as though it has a point.
I enjoyed Henry Gibson's pompous but basically decent country and western man, found Ronee Blakely touching and Keith Carradine was superb in what should have been a starmaking part as a womanising singer. Actually the whole cast were pretty good - there's some wonderful actors. Plenty of music, though not of a high quality, and the movie does have an engaging atmosphere. I just feel it's been incredibly over-rated.
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