GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Nicolas Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Spikeopath McCabe and Mrs Miller is directed by Robert Altman and Altman co-adapts the screenplay with Brian McKay. It's adapted from the novel McCabe written by Edmund Naughton. It stars Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, John Schuck, Keith Carradine, Rene Auberjonois and Bert Remson. Music is by Leonard Cohen and cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond.A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in the remote mining town of Presbyterian Church, as their enterprise booms it comes to the attention of a large mining corporation who want to buy the action.Altman's grim and dirty slice of the Old West (Northwestern here to be precise) is a divisive picture in Western fan circles. In fact it's been said that it's more beloved by none Western fans and Altman acolytes than actual Western lovers. Put up as a flag bearer for the Anti-Western splinter, a mud and rags Oater for terminology purpose, there is no denying the quality on show across the board.Set in bleak winter time, Altman and his crew pour on the atmospherics in practically every frame, with the director using his familiar film making trademarks (overlap conversations, realistic movement of characters in framing shots etc) for maximum impact. With Cohen warbling his plaintive tunes at each story juncture, there's a haunting beauty on offer that belies the narrative thrust fronted by losers and dreamers. While Zsigmond brilliantly photographs the extreme difference between the homely feel of the interiors, with that of the cold snowy wilderness outside the doors, where the muted colours ooze period flavour.Purposely built for the film, the town of Presbyterian Church is a sea of mud, snow and timber, where the weather is perpetually dank, the surroundings enveloping chief protagonist McCabe like an unearthly portent. There are no great pyrotechnics here, and the story is being told in slow and deliberate time, which goes a long way to explaining why it is a divisive film, so any newcomers should be forewarned of this. Beatty and Christie in the title roles are superb, both defrocked of their star status beauty, they perform skilfully for realistic portrayals.Not an easy watch, but always riveting and fascinating, it for sure is a piece of art. A picture worthy of revisits when the mood is set for total immersion. 8/10

powermandan There is nothing that I would change in this. Nothing could have been done better. Spielberg, Scorsese, even Lean or Ford could not have made this movie better than Robert Altman. Robert Altman is one of the best directors in the history of cinema and this was his first crowning achievement and it remains my favourite of his. The year before he did M*A*S*H and Brewster McCloud, the former of which was his breakout film. But McCabe & Mrs. Miller is a visual and social marvel that almost never gets topped.Robert Altman has always loved exploring cinema. He always wanted to go above and beyond basic conventions. This led to him making anti-films. M*A*S*H was anti-war, The Long Goodbye was anti-film noir, 3 Women was anti-friendship, The Player is anti-Hollywood, McCabe & Mrs. Miller is anti-western. The most American movie genre has been given a twist: the costumes look different and the location is so muddy and wet and cloudy and snowy. I haven't read the book which this is based on, but I guarantee the whole anti-western aspect was Altman's idea. The massive change in the genre's look is the first thing people notice when they see this. Regular westerns such as The Searchers and Rio Bravo are colourful, taking place in dusty deserts with the sun beating down on the village. McCabe & Mrs. Miller was filmed in a small Vancouver town where it snows and it would be much easier to capture the look that westerns are not.McCabe & Mrs. Miller starts out with businessman John McCabe (Warren Beatty) travelling through and making a stop at the tiny mining community of Presbyterian Church (named after its only significant building). Legend has it that he is a violent gunslinger who recently killed a man. Is he really who people think he is? Presbyterian Church has literally nothing to it. When McCabe arrive and has some beers, it is so dark and damp. The village is presented like a cave. But McCabe has an idea: make prostitution the driving force for the town. McCabe's idea works as Presbyterian Church grows from nothing into something. Buildings are being built, and Altman got real construction workers to wear costumes as they build in real time. And it is great to see Presbyterian Church evolve thanks to driving force of John McCabe. He is a pimp who often wears the fur coat that 70s pimps wear. But he is very complex, something Beatty successfully tackles. Not far into his ventures, cockney Constance Miller (Julie Christie) offers to help McCabe's whorehouses grow as only she knows. McCabe doesn't want partners, but he reluctantly agrees. It is thanks to Mrs. Miller that prostitution empire grows into such a big deal. She is smarter than McCabe, but can he accept any of that? The main plot of the film (the first half is the titular characters building a community) happens about halfway through when McCabe is offered to be bought out by successful businessmen. The money is huge, but McCabe's personal pride shoots them down. Mrs. Miller tries to talk him into accepting the offer, but he disagrees with her. More businessmen come to Presbyterian Church and McCabe's ego may be the end of it all.Aside from the murky look of the film, the movie centring on prostitution may also put people off. The women in this film are treated as low-class people only good for one purpose: sex. While McCabe is the driving force, it is the hookers that provide the satisfactory. And it is Mrs. Miller who was the smart one of the titular characters. This movie shows that women actually ARE powerful, sometimes more than men. If women were in charge, Presbyterian Church would not have turned upside down. Altman's themes of pride and women and rumours are all phenomenal, and the anti-western shtick is great, but it is Altman's filming that gets this such a high honour. Despite such a reclusive place, the viewer is immersed in this tiny town just a few acres. And the the general look is surprisingly exquisite. It may not be as beautiful as Barry Lyndon or Dances With Wolves, but Altman is able to make many scenes look like paintings from National art museums. The whorehouses look like palaces. The cinematography is A-1. Each shot is carefully framed and set up. His lens choice packs everything needed for a scene and the zoom lens very effective in each shot. Some bits of dialogue are muddled (such as McCabe talking to himself), but it worth seeing why some bits are heard and some aren't. It is worth seeing all of Atman's cinematic choices.Lastly, Leonard Cohen makes a haunting soundtrack. There's only three songs used to perfection. I wish I could go on about this, but I can only write so much on this site.

gab-14712 Coming off the unexpected success of M.A.S.H, director Robert Altman decided to do a complete 180 in choosing his next project. As we all know, his first film was a black comedy with themes of war. His next movie, McCabe & Mrs. Miller strays very far from that field. This film is a combination of a Western and a romance film, but in ways you wouldn't expect. This is not a Western in a sense of cowboys and Indians, but about a man struggling to earn a living in the cold doldrums of the Old West. There are hidden themes about love, but this is not a love story although there is a heightened sense of romanticism in the movie. Altman introduced me to his style in the solid, if unspectacular M.A.S.H, but he comes through with this film in a big way.I very much enjoyed this film. It's one of those slow-burn dramas, but when the time is right, I do enjoy these kind of films that don't heavily rely on action, but instead upon our characters. Speaking of which, Altman delivers an interesting way of developing characterization. As the movie starts, we see the townsfolk whom plays a major role during the entirety of the film. But, we are not introduced to them in the normal sense. Altman wisely refrains from using any monologue with his characters (outside the two main ones) that tell us who they are, what they are doing, where they come from, etc. We, as the audience, must piece together the puzzle ourselves. It's clear the townspeople knew each other for a long time. Each individual is pivotal in the lives of others. It is a master technique that Altman inhibits not only in this film, but in the majority of his films.Another noticeable trait of the film is the look of the film. There is something about that snowy landscape that gives off a sense of beauty. The film was beautifully shot by legendary cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond (who unfortunately passed away only a few weeks ago). His work lives on in this film very much so. The film is beautiful to see with the snow-filled Canadian wilderness, but at the same time Altman gives an intentional dreary look to the film and his characters. The movie makes wonderful use of white, gray, and black to show how unspectacular life is for our characters. Everyone goes about their day in unspectacular fashion. Other than work, there is nothing much to do in this area.This film is about a businessman named John McCabe (Warren Beatty) who builds himself a whorehouse in this remote Western town. The town is predominantly male, and women are hard to come by so this is the perfect investment for McCabe. Soon after he builds his whorehouse and tavern, a mistress named Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie) arrives offering herself to become McCabe's business partner in his booming business. She promises to handle the business side of things because she has expertise in that field. Soon after her arrival, several businessmen arrive in town wanting to buy McCabe's business. The stake of the town and even his life depends on the answer of McCabe.There is a trend I've noticed in American films from the 1970's. They hardly ever rely upon a huge cast of big names, and that rings true in this film. The only big names at the time of this film's release were Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. This came out during an era where names led to a movie's success. Anyhow, they were both phenomenal in the movie. The chemistry shared between the two is excellent, and the aura they possess when it's only just one of them on screen magnifies their performances. McCabe is dim-witted when it comes to business, and I love how Mrs. Miller changes that.Another interesting item about the film is the music. Unlike films at the time, it doesn't have a score to use. Instead, it uses three haunting Leonard Cohen songs that helps with the story. The soundtrack is another reason why this film works. They are haunting songs, but at the same time they are beautiful songs.The film has a depressing feel though its duration, and sometimes I found myself searching for happiness in the movie. Right away, I knew what the tone would be as McCabe introduces himself to the town during a game of poker and finds he has a reputation of killing a man. Then there is the scene where this random kid (played by a young Keith Carradine) gets himself killed just because he couldn't stay out of trouble. He knew he was going to be killed and he tried to postpone his murder by adapting a cheerful attitude, but it didn't work. This town features a Presbyterian Church, which plays a prominent role in the plot and in the ending, where there is a cat-and-mouse shootout.McCabe and Mrs. Miller is an excellent film and one of Altman's masterpieces. I loved how the story took its time to get rolling and I got the feeling I knew these characters as if they're real-life people. That should be the goal of every single movie, no matter the premise. The movie is very beautiful to look at, but I also get a sense of sadness because there is no happiness to be found in the movie. There is a lot of dreariness, but it's important for the kind of story being told. I had a heavy heart at times, but I still liked this movie very, very much.My Grade: A-

Donald Buehler I loved it in 1971 and I still love it. There is so much to like about McCabe and Mrs Miller: Warren Beatty is superb as the blow-hard, big shot - who has trouble adding in his head - has next to no business sense - but is smart enough to take Julie Christie (Mrs Miller) as a partner in the brothel business. Not a great fan of Mr. Beatty (Is Carly Simon's famous song about him? I think so), he is great in this role - showing that bluster and chutzpa can get you somewhere - although in the end of course it gets him killed.Julie Christie is beautiful, fiery, and mysterious as Mrs Miller. An opium addict, she tries to escape her quite sordid world through drugs ( sound familiar?) as she prods and cajoles McCabe to be what he pretends to be. One of my favorite scenes is when she is challenging him to "think big - you always think small." This is interesting as he always talks big, but in fact has a very limited vision of what can be.I love to see growth (both good an bad) in characters. Check out the progression of evil in Walter White in Breaking Bad. McCabe, although he is 90% bluff (he is a gambler) does rise to the occasion when threatened by the gunslingers at the end. It is great to see him step up when the time came - even thought the end is tragic and very poignant.But the best part of the movie for me is the ambiance and setting and the cinematography. The bleak scenery and town provide a perfect backdrop for what I believe life was like in the early days of Western expansion. Mud, cold, unwashed people, ugly women, uglier men - this is what I imagine life was like in the Old West. Loving snow scenes, the weather portrayed in the movie is excellent, especially the heavy snow at the end. The way the film was shot with the haunting Leonard Cohen music gives this film an atmosphere of dark intrigue.BTW Leonard Cohen is still at it - check him out on one of the tracks in Sons of Anarchy (Come Healing).Finally there is the mystery. Is Warren Beatty actually John McCabe - the gunslinger who killed Bill Roundtree? Or is that part of the disguise he is willing to assume to gain respect? You can point out to events in the movie which support either theory. I'm interested in your take on this - let me know what you think. Hopefully I have motivated you to see this classic film. It is in my all-time top ten (although my Mom and Dad hated it!).Thanks for reading the review of one of my favorites. DonB