Kansas City

Kansas City is absolutely stunning! Jazz is played practically throughout the entire movie, and one scene in particular could have gone on forever as far as I'm concerned. You'll know which scene I mean when you see it! A real get up and jump 10 minutes or so. Jennifer Jason Leigh was at her best. It was a complex role and her development of the character was incredible. Belefonte was chilling! Altman really picked up a sense of the time and place. This is a must see for jazz fans.

Robert Altman, perhaps one of the most innovative directors, working in Hollywood pays homage to his home town: Kansas City. Mr. Altman recreates a long gone era that he probably didn't know that well, being only a child at the time the action takes place. It seems as though the allure of the period made a vivid mark in the director's mind, as he takes us, with this film, for a long over due visit. Make no mistake, this is not another "Nashville", quite the contrary. The only similarity is the title that reflects a city name. As written by the director and Frank Barhydt, the film succeeds in creating the atmosphere, but as far as the story line goes, it has the quality to disorient, even the most avid of Mr. Altman's fans.

What Kansas City lacks in story line, it makes up with the glorious music that serves as compensation with the thinness of the material one sees on the screen. The music is the best excuse to watch the movie that showcases an excellent group of musicians playing heavenly in between the action.

Mr. Altman's choice of Jennifer Jason Leigh as Blondie, is probably what's wrong with the film. This actress mumbles her lines, plays Blondie as strident woman and manages to derail the film. On the other hand, Miranda Richardson's Carolyn Stilton gives her one of the best roles in her career. Ms. Richardson appears to be on a cloud most of the time because of her opium addiction. She makes us care for her portrayal of this society woman that needs all the help she can get. Having it all, she can't cope with being married to a cold man that couldn't care less about her. Where other lonely wives resort to drinking, Mrs. Stilton gets away from it all with drugs.

Harry Belafonte plays the local gangster in charge of illegal gambling that evidently was prevalent in the city. His Seldom Seen character is at times inaudible by the way he throws his lines. Sometimes we have to strain our ears in order to hear what he is saying. Mr. Belafonte is a fine actor. As far as Dermot Mulroney and Steve Buscemi are concerned, they have not much to play in the movie to make us care for them. The supporting roles are good.

In spite of this movie not being one of Robert Altman's best, it presents a fine opportunity to absorb the atmosphere and the music of the era, oh, and all that jazz!

Like the films of Orson Welles, Federico Fellini or Woody Allen, there's almost always a reason to watch, even if the completed whole doesn't quite add up to the sum of it's parts. Kansas City fits that bill for me.

Altman weaves his usual rich tapestry of lives affected by history in a city alive with jazz and political chicanery, and Kansas City is worth watching for the unexpectedly mesmerizing performance by Harry Belafonte as "Seldom Seen," mobster boss.

The jazz on display is equally dazzling, but just when your mind is settling into some rich, heady music, the film cuts back to the deadly, mannered, whiny performance turned in by Jennifer Jason Leigh; when most film fans recall the disaster that became Godfather III, the director's indulgence of the lackluster performance turned in by Sofia Coppola comes to mind; Leigh's performance similarly affects the tone of Kansas City, and since she is the protagonist, the film's interest flags with her director-free indulgence in some kind of method acting that fails to evoke much but self-indulgence.

In short, Kansas City is well worth a look for superb mise-en-scene,for the music and atmosphere, but is deeply frustrating for it's central performance.

A kidnapping and a robbery move the plot forward in a film that's less about plot than about cultural ambiance. "Kansas City" is mostly a cinematic expression of place and time. It's 1934, when gangsters and jazz ruled and Blacks and Whites went their separate ways.

Visuals are very dark. And though the film is in color, tints are muted, which conveys a nostalgic, sentimental mood. The thin plot takes place largely at night. And the plot alternates with dark interior scenes at the Hey Hey Club, a risqué, all-Black speakeasy where an all-Black band jives free-form jazz, and where illegal gambling fills the back rooms.

None of the characters are sympathetic. But I don't think they're supposed to be. They're archetypes, models of desperate people in desperate times. A gun-wielding gangster's girl named Blondie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) wants to be like Jean Harlow. Mrs. Stilton (Miranda Richardson) is a wealthy, spaced-out politician's wife. Seldom Seen (based on a real-life person and played by Harry Belafonte) is the cigar smoking godfather who rules the dark, smoky Hey Hey Club with an iron fist and who likes to stand around giving lectures to people.

The script's dialogue is mostly subtext, with message directed less at other characters than at viewers. And, as in other Altman films, then-current politics dance around the edges of the seedy story. The overall tone mixes depression with desperation.

For me this is an easy film to judge. The characters and plot I cared for not at all. Jennifer Jason Leigh was painful to watch. And though the jazz is performed with great competence, its free-form, improvisational style is too contemporary to reflect the 1930s. On the other hand, Miranda Richardson gives a fine performance. Attention to detail in costumes, sets, props, and storefront exteriors make the film come alive with era realism. And lighting is absolutely terrific.

If you go into this movie expecting a deep story and well-constructed plot, you'll be disappointed. Absorb the overall texture of the film's visuals. "Kansas City" is a terrific visual portrait of a specific place at a specific time.

Robert Altman's Jazz-Infused Homage to His Hometown is Like Most, but Not All, of the Maverick Directors Filmography, it's a Love it or Leave it Affair.

His Most Successful, Financial and Critical, Movies don't Fit in that Box with Altman's Others that Part the Majority of Fans and Critics like the "Red Sea".

"Nashville" (1975) and "The Player" (1992) are Exceptions.

With "Kansas City" the Writer-Director is in Familiar Territory Again as there are Folks and Critics on Both Sides of Altman's Vision.

His Modus-Operandi has Always been to Never Compromise and Play the Maverick to the End,

You Need Talent to Survive for so Long in His World of Making Movies Apart from the Maddening Crowd of Hollywood.

His Film-Making Talent is Rarely Criticized. But His Movies are Frequently.

This is a Luscious Looking Film and the Free Form/Improv Jazz Soundtrack is its Reason for Being.

The Period Detail Drips from the Screen.

The Music is a Delight.

Harry Belafonte Steals the Acting Honors and Rants Endlessly about the Human Condition while Whiffing Cocaine and Murdering Anyone who Dares Double-Cross.

Jennifer Jason Leigh's Lead Performance is a Sticking-Point for Sticklers Wanting Perhaps a more Nuanced Take.

Nope, Not Going to Happen.

It's an Over-the-Top Cartoony, Stereotypical Gangster-Moll Cliche and it Comes Off Thick and In-Your-Face and Seems Silly.

Even if You Consider it a Disastrous Dramatic Overkill, the Film is so Good Otherwise that it can be Sloughed Off as an Altman/Leigh Indulgence.

The Film's Saving Grace is the Eye and Ear Candy...it's a Treat.