Jay W
In a good musical, music should move the story forward. The lyrics and melodies can enlighten the viewer about a character's motivation, about ambitions, plots or setting. "Nashville" on the other hand feels like the whole story goes on hold while the character sings a song. And since about 70% of this movie is singing, 112 minutes of this movie is just a waste of time. It certainly doesn't help that I don't like any of the songs that are being sung; I guess I'm just not a fan of country music. Along with the singing, I don't like the characters. There are so many people doing unrelated things that in nearly 3 hours I don't feel like I know any of these people. Clearly I'm the wrong person to ask about this critically acclaimed film, because I just don't understand the appeal.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
12/01/24
Full Review
thiago s
filme mais ou menos, o filme pode ser bom na época, mas hoje não dá,
parece que o filme ficou focado entre musica country dos anos 70 que parece que tem cantores na radio k-rose do gta san andreas, e dialogos de leves brigas, quando o final do filme parece se tornar uma final feliz, teve ao contrário, o cara de um tiro na cantora e meio que matou ela, diante do
publico, e depois ele foi preso. eu coloquei 1 estrela e meia só por causa do tiro no final do filme.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
09/30/24
Full Review
CodyZamboni Z
Watchable, mostly engaging comedy drama, Has some amusing satirical barbs, Best thing about this movie is Ronnie Blakely, So charming, with such a beautiful voice.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
09/01/24
Full Review
Jeff M
Like many of Robert Altman's movies, we are presented with a virtual cast of thousands, or it seems pretty darn close. From main characters to real-life cameos, it's a treat to see the who's who of 1970s cinema. Ultimately this is a cinematic quilt, with patches of characters that attach themselves together, in big ways and small, to produce a truly amazing creation. Like a good novel, it may be long, but it's worth revisiting to give each character the attention deserved.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/26/24
Full Review
Alex P
Nashville is what you get when a Californian makes a movie about the South. The characters are cliches made by someone who likely never met, or liked, an actual Southerner.
It's also just a completely boring, wandering, and unstructured movie. It's praised as "broad", but it's just unfocused.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
12/31/23
Full Review
John E
Nashville was released in 1975 and I fear it is going to be near impossible to sum up all the many reasons why this film is spectacular. The story involves the lives of 24 central characters over a 5-day span in the city of Nashville in the mid 1970's. Amazingly, despite its enormous cast, one knows who every character is and what they've possibly been through. They are real, identifiable and flawed in one way or another. For some their existence is one of privilege, and for others it is an existence of yearning. Nashville is a city of elitism for some and a city of opportunity for others and through Altman's eyes it becomes a focused representation of America in general, with those in the city venturing to live their American dream.
The movie plays out in linear time as it juxtaposes differing experiences on top of each other. The musical performances in a reputable venue against performances in a dive bar; the swanky gatherings against the lonely homelife; the venerable celebrity against the naïve wannabe; the loving relationship against the hollow sexual encounter. The movie deftly fills in all the grays that are typically missing in tales focused on the black and whites.
Altman uses multiple tracks of sound that continuously play over each other. Multiple conversations are happening at the same time, just as they do in real life, so the dialogue has no hint of being scripted for the viewer's convenience. This overlapping of tracks starts the moment the film starts (with a hilarious opening credit parody of an old K-Tel record tv-ad) and continues through the film's closing musical performance.
Politics is a thin thread that weaves all the scenes together, yet that thread is always sewn into the background and never pulls attention from the characters. Political candidate Hal Phillip Walker is only heard through a megaphone from a van that travels the streets of Nashville throughout the film. He's never seen. This film was created during the era of Nixon so the nation's distrust of politicians is felt, and characters in the film often align with differing views of the period regarding gender norms (oh that long hair on men!), military efforts, and what constitutes patriotism. If that doesn't sound familiar, let's also mention that there is a gun shooting at a public venue and citizens are urged to quickly just get over it and get back to the music. Country singing legend Haven Hamilton tells the crowd, "Y'all take it easy now. This isn't Dallas, it's Nashville! They can't do this to us here in Nashville! Let's show them what we're made of." Altman's vision of America, and Americans, was not only representative of its time, but prophetic of our own.
The cast is perfection and includes name stars such as Ned Beatty, Lily Tomlin, Keith Carradine, Jeff Goldblum, Karen Black, and Shelley Duvall along with lesser established but equally effective actors including Barbara Baxley, Michael Murphy, Ronee Blakely, Timothy Brown, Allen Garfield, Keenan Wynn, and Gwen Welles. Two standout performances for me personally were Geraldine Chaplin as BBC reporter Opal, and Henry Gibson as the aforementioned Haven Hamilton. Gibson's portrayal could easily have crossed the line into camp, but he walks that satirical line right to the edge yet never crosses it.
I would address the plot… if the film actually had one. It doesn't. This is an examination of the messiness and the drive of the human experience from a multitude of angles. It compares and contrasts those experiences over a short period of time and then the film is over. Nothing is resolved, no one is a hero, no one is necessarily better off, and the world continues spinning. Because of that, or in spite of that, this film now sits near the top of my all-time favorite cinematic experiences.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
04/06/23
Full Review
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