Cheap Nashville (DVD) (Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, Allen Garfield) (Robert Altman) Price

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Customer Reviews of Nashville

Quite Possibly the Most Patriotic Film Ever Made...
Robert Altman's NASHVILLE, an perfectly exhilarating film and an even better cinematiic experience, follows twenty-four characters through the Country Music Capital of the World for three eventful days, and by the end we have grown to love them all (even the ones we hate). The film is structureless (characters wander in and out, and we merely wander around with them to hospitals, restaurants, and hotel rooms) while also being perfectly constructed (it feels carefree and spontaneous, and yet it builds and builds to an unbelievable finale). At once, Altman skewers the music industry, the government, and American hospitality in general. It's not officially a satire, but if it is, then it's easily the most entertaining one ever made, hilarious and heartbreaking. We laugh at the ridiculous BBC reporter (Geraldine Chaplin) and her pathetic, quasi-intellectual ramblings. We despise the womanizing musician (Keith Carradine) who, before one woman is even out the door, is already calling another one up to sleep with him. We pity the poor, naive, untalented, bra-stuffing waitress (Gwen Welles) determined on becoming a singing star, despite the fact that, as one of the other characters puts it wonderfully, "she can't sing a lick." We cry out for the unstable country diva Barbara Jean (played devastatingly by Ronee Blakley), frail and fragile, as her brain unspools before a crowd of merciless, unsympathetic fans. We simultaneously love the Country King himself, Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson) for being so damned out there and loathe him for being so damned slimy. Robert Altman never intended to make NASHVILLE a specifically patriotic film--he intended to simply make it a representation of American life in its bicentennial year--and by doing just that it *became* patriotic. NASHVILLE portrays American life like no other film or any other piece of art ever has; here, in this fake version of real life which feels more like real life than almost any other movie ever made, America is beautiful, is tacky, is corrupt, is joyous, is ultimately strong, despite all of its faults. As the film reaches its exultant conclusion, we experience a genuine high from the sheer emotion it has given off--and it's a high that, as Pauline Kael emphasized in her now-famous review of the film, doesn't go away when the movie is over. It stays with you.

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A Moving Experience
I saw this movie for the first time at the age of thirteen, and just cried. At the time I couldn't figure out exactly why I had such a tremendous emotional response to the film, but have now come to realize that the shear beauty of "Nashville" is simply overpowering.

You see, "Nashville" is a movie about America, and its people. The themes studied are as broad and varied as its story's twenty-four main characters. However, as the result of Robert Altman's brilliant direction, the picture never becomes didactic or unfocused in any ways. Instead, it is the most realistic depiction of our nation captured on film.

I cannot put into words the tidal wave of emotion the viewer experiences in the movie's final scene when all the story's characters are united for a single moment in song. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. No, I never lived through Watergate, Vietnam, or Kennedy's assasination, but I don't think that could matter any less. I believe "Nashville" is as relevant to America today as it was twenty-five years ago.

If you have never seen this, order it NOW! Believe me, it is worth owning.

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One of the 70's greatest films and that's saying a lot!
I am waiting for a better DVD version with more extras and 1:85 ratio 2:35 is too small for me. I do own the video and I have no idea how many times I have watched this movie. It's almost worn out. If you are looking for a movie about country music this isn't it. It's about the way we were living and what was going on in the world and our country in the 70's. Yes I am old enough to remember! It is a film that most people seem to really love or really hate. I love it! Great cast! I am a huge Lily Tomlin fan and she is is wonderful in this film, but so is the rest of the cast. The 70's had some of the greatest films ever made this is one of the best!