I remember when I watched this the first time, I didn't like it at all. So, here we are several years later and I decided to have a mini run-through of several films from 1978 and decided to give this one another go. Well, I have to say I was pleased that I did, as it proved to be a much better experience the second tie around. It's a film which is pure Robert Altman - I reckon it would be pretty easy to clock this as one of his efforts even if you missed the credits. As such, it's a comedy-drama with multiple mini plot-strands, a huge ensemble cast and overlapping dialogue all the way. So, its an example of a director simply playing to his strengths and delivering more of the same (in a good way).
Like a lot of Altman, the story is not really the point and could be summed up pretty briefly - set over a single day at a high society wedding when a rich Southern clan merge with an Italian American family with links to the Mafia; we watch the various guests indulge in a myriad of sub-plots, which reveal much about them. The groom's grandmother dies, family secrets emerge, there's sexual liaisons, hints at organised crime and a fatal accident. Like other Altman movies, the ensemble cast and improv-sounding dialogue give it a loose feel, while the vignette nature of the thing ensures that it never gets bogged down in any plot strand in particular and keeps moving all the time. The cast work well together and its overall a more entertaining experience than actually attending a wedding.
Like a lot of Altman, the story is not really the point and could be summed up pretty briefly - set over a single day at a high society wedding when a rich Southern clan merge with an Italian American family with links to the Mafia; we watch the various guests indulge in a myriad of sub-plots, which reveal much about them. The groom's grandmother dies, family secrets emerge, there's sexual liaisons, hints at organised crime and a fatal accident. Like other Altman movies, the ensemble cast and improv-sounding dialogue give it a loose feel, while the vignette nature of the thing ensures that it never gets bogged down in any plot strand in particular and keeps moving all the time. The cast work well together and its overall a more entertaining experience than actually attending a wedding.