X
- 1996
- R
- Fine Line Features
- 1 h 56 m
- 1996
- R
- Fine Line Features
- 1 h 56 m
Summary Robert Altman's jazz-fueled film explores themes of love, crime, race, and politics in 1930's Kansas City.
Directed By: Robert Altman
Written By: Frank Barhydt, Robert Altman
- 1996
- R
- Fine Line Features
- 1 h 56 m
- 1996
- R
- Fine Line Features
- 1 h 56 m
Kansas City
58
7.6
Where to Watch
Summary Robert Altman's jazz-fueled film explores themes of love, crime, race, and politics in 1930's Kansas City.
Directed By: Robert Altman
Written By: Frank Barhydt, Robert Altman
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
58
48% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
43% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
9% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
58
48% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
43% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
9% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Kansas City is a wonderful film, done with all Altman's offbeat virtuosity, maverick humor and creative daring -- plus the acid nip that runs through all his recent works.
Although there's nominally a lot of action, the film doesn't exactly abound in narrative pulse. But its portraits and textures take up a lot of the slack. [16 Aug 1996, p.D5]
Kansas City can be regarded as a jazz tone poem on themes of race, politics, money and the movies themselves.
For Altman, this is a major statement about American hypocrisy and society’s haves and have-nots, in line with many of his films, but issued in a kind of offhand way that delivers only glancing emotional impact.
This period gangster yarn...is neither in the front rank nor the slag heap of Altman's oeuvre. Rather, it's an atypically accessible attempt at mainstream entertainment that contains both satisfying and off-putting elements. [16 Aug 1996, p.L24]
A production that's strong on atmosphere but weak in the plot department. Watching this often-tedious film, you begin to feel as if you've been kidnapped - which is appropriate, anyway, since the story concerns an abduction.
Jazz is a good metaphor for Robert Altman's movies they're often improvisational, free-form and full of unexpected dissonance. Unfortunately, his movies also fall prey to the hazards of jazz they can be boring, screechy and endless. Thus, Kansas City. [16 Aug 1996, p.49]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 User Ratings
7.6
70% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
25% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
5% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 User Ratings
7.6
70% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
25% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
5% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
CiBy 2000,
Sandcastle 5 Productions
Release Date Aug 16, 1996
Duration 1 h 56 m
Rating R
Tagline Kansas City, 1934. Anything could happen here. One night it did.
Website
http://www.flf.com/kc/index.html
Awards
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Society of Texas Film Critics Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
