McCABE AND MRS. MILLER

Unlike many directors, Altman rarely provides his audience with background information on his characters. Just like people in real life, they are unpredictable and inconsistent, people who must be judged by the actions we see. In McCABE AND MRS. MILLER, the main characters emerge from the film's community and must be sorted out and understood by the viewer. Warren Beatty stars as the small-time gambler whose business is bringing pleasure to a wild west settlement. Julie Christie stars as the hard-nosed madam who coerces him into setting her up in business and splitting the profits. It is an authentic portrait of a 1902 zinc mining town with raw wood structures sunk in scarred earth by crude settlers. The film's excitement builds as Beatty faces the choice of selling out his new-found prosperous enterprise to local mobsters or getting shot. McCABE AND MRS. MILLER explodes comfortable myths of our western expansion, and offers a cold, hard look at frontier America's primitive capitalism and ruthless individualism. Its hazy images and complex, realistic soundtrack evoke a terror and beauty that is uniquely Altman.