A dazzling and dizzying adaptation of short stories by Raymond Carver, “Short Cuts” follows 22 Los Angeles residents whose lives intersect over the course of a few days. Anne and Howard Finnegan are preparing for their son’s birthday when the boy falls into a coma after a car accident. Meanwhile, Andy the baker, seethes with anger over the birthday cake that wasn’t claimed. Lois is a new mother who watches over her baby when not making money doing phone sex. Pilot “Stormy” Weathers takes a very literal approach to dividing up property with his ex-wife. Doreen is trying to hold on to her marriage with Earl, who is a good man on the rare occasions that he’s sober. Zoe, a classical musician, is trying to find a way to connect with her jazz singer mother. Dr. Ralph Wyman and wife, Marian, put their bickering on hold while they have dinner with couple, Stuart and Claire Kane. The stories wind around each other with just enough connecting threads to hold the tapestry together. Cast includes: Anne Archer, Bruce Davison, Peter Gallagher, Buck Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Huey Lewis, Lyle Lovett, Andie MacDowell, Matthew Modine, Julianne Moore, Chris Penn, Tim Robbins, Annie Ross, Lori Singer, Madeleine Stowe, Lili Tomlin, Tom Waits, Fred Ward, Lili Taylor, Frances McDormand and Robert Downey Jr.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
312432
Language
English
Audience classification
R (18+)
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → American Film Festival - Awards
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Film festivals - Italy - Venice - Awards
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures - Awards
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Mothers and daughters
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Telephone sex
Feature films → Feature films - United States
Literature → American literature - Film and video adaptations
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)