Rating of
3/4
Short Cuts review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 02/02/12
A couple named Lois (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Jerry Kaiser (Chris Penn), experiences envy because of her wife’s job doing phone sex. Gene Shepard (Tim Robbins) is an immoral cop who cheats on his wife, Sherri (Madeleine Stowe). Gene's mistress is realtor Betty Weathers (Frances McDormand). Honey (Lili Taylor) is married to Bill Bush (Robert Downey, Jr.), a man aroused by carnage. The film involves Howard (Bruce Davison), baker (Lyle Lovett), a father named Paul Finnigan (Jack Lemmon), Ralph (Matthew Modine) and his wife, Marian (Julianne Moore), waitress Doreen (Lily Tomlin), whose hooligan husband Earl (Tom Waits) is a drunk, and Howard’s wife Ann Finnigan (Andie MacDowell).
A few qualms noticed were the pacing, overlong scenes of the jazz singer, lack of an interesting score or soundtrack and lacked of a better finale. The movie touched on a myriad of topics such as obsession, disloyalty, empathy, decency, lies, discontented marriages, jealousy, suicide, and parenting. Screenplay was exceptional with quotes from the characters: Bill – “These are strange people, honey.” Paul - “What’s the world coming to.” TV announcer – “Accidents happen every day.” Paul – “The truth will come out.” One of the best casted films this reviewer has seen, Robbins was spooky, MacDowell was touching, and the onscreen couple Moore and Modine was electric. Short Cuts is a good drama about human frailties and proper parental guidance.
