A Wedding

Lesser Altman, to say the least. The technique is there but the writing isn’t. Lame lampoons and shaky acting leave the proceedings moribund on the screen. I am not among those who consider Nashville a classic, but this is a real comedown, though it highlights the comparative virtues of the much later Gosford Park. You have to hand it to Robert Altman, he did it his way for forty years and more, and while the quality of his films was highly variable, he reached peaks with McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Vincent and Theo, and The Player. One testament to his protean talent is that many other critics would select an entirely different choice of high points and low. (1978, dvd, r.) *5+*