Nashville

Nashville (1975)

Runtime: 160 minutes

Directed by: Robert Altman

Starring: Two dozen people... no kidding, the focus is on 24 different characters

From: Paramount

“Who do you think is running Congress? Farmers? Engineers? Teachers? Businessmen? No, my friends. Congress is run by lawyers. A lawyer is trained for two things and two things only. To clarify - that's one. And to confuse - that's the other thing. He does whichever is to his client's advantage. Did you ever ask a lawyer the time of day? He told you how to make a watch, didn't he? Ever ask a lawyer how to get to Mr. Jones' house in the country? You got lost, didn't you? Congress is composed of five hundred and thirty-five individuals. Two hundred and eighty-eight are lawyers. And you wonder what's wrong in Congress? No wonder we often know how to make a watch, but we don't know - the time of day.”

I had enough free time last night to see this over 2 ½ hour motion picture and despite the length it did not feel that long and it was a rewarding journey. A movie that focuses on 24 different main characters could certainly have gone wrong; there are examples I won't name where an ensemble sort of piece has gone wrong. Even with plenty of improv, this walked the tightrope of creating two dozen distinct and interesting characters interacting with each other while weaving a rich tapestry of stories that involve various aspects of Americana... the country music scene in general, politics, stardom, etc. In addition, it has an amazing opening: the first minute or so is designed to look like a period advertisement for a record compilation; this is how all the stars and the most famous songs from the soundtrack are introduced.

The characters include stars that of course have a private life notably different from their public persona, dreamers that wish to be future stars-even if their singing may not even pass muster on American Idol-people on the periphery of the scene, some that are just passing through, hippies, and a third party candidate for President that runs under a Populism message where he rants against “The Elite” (insert your own editorial comments if you wish) and provides the most memorable monologues. It was always fascinating to see these different personalities interacting w/ each other. Thankfully in a movie surrounding an epicenter of a musical genre and featuring many songs (usually performed by those who are novices when it comes to singing), the songs are all at least fine and one-Keith Carradine's I'm Easy-deserves the awards it got.

The musicians in that city's scene apparently didn't care for the eponymous film but me and many others feel it is great. It would be a shame to reveal much more; I can say that there's some amazing clothing on display, the cast is full of quality talent, such sights as Lily Tomlin leading a Black gospel choir (!) was quite unexpected, and I won't spoil which famous faces cameo as themselves. This spends 5 days in Music City and unless you are repelled by the typical Altman tropes (such as overlapping dialogue) it is well worth giving a shot to. In addition, if the terrible pop-influenced nonsense that has infested country music turns you off also... the tunes here are MUCH better than that noise.