chersull_99 Review of 3 Women

3 Women (1977)

I just don't get it. I feel like I should, but I just don't.

[3/10 · 23 January 2006]

I picked up this DVD from the public library, mainly because it is part of the Criterion Collection, which usually represents pretty good films. But egads! I'm sorry, but adding spastic flute music and very, VERY long fades of bad art work do not a good movie make. It just drrrrraaaaaaggggggggggggggggggged, and I felt like Robert Altman was thinking, let's make the worst movie we can, add some unbelievably pretentious and overblown "arty" elements to it, and see how many sheep out there we can get to say "oooooooo, wow, it's AMAZING! So cutting edge. So cryptic." Guys....it's awful! I usually can live without violence in movies, but when Spacek did a header into the pool, I cheered out loud. However, what followed seemed like an hour of hospital room coma scenes and I thought, my GOD, it has to get better. And that's what kept me watching, as I think is the case with many folks out there. We need to just find the ability to chuckle at ourselves a bit and say "ok, Altman got me on this one." Don't watch it again and again, searching for the meaning in it all. In the literature included with the DVD there is a statement, something like, "It was Altman's goal to shoot the entire movie with no screenplay." That explains why we see, literally 45 seconds of footage of a person walking from a car into a bar. Just walking. Nothing's going to fall on his head. Nothing's going to happen. He's just walking. Still walking. Anyway, if you want to watch a good movie about dysfunctional relationships and women, rent "The Hours".