A satirical takedown of American Old West mythology, Altman and Alan Rudolph give us a window into the goings on in Buffalo Bill's legendary Wild West Show, and the duel of wills between the showman and Chief Sitting Bull. It's a battle of true history versus fabricated, intercut with a few sidestories and incidental events, as per Altman's love of multistrand narrative.
There's a lot to admire in BB&TIOSBHL - the cast are all game, with Newman as a smug, up-himself version of Bill who is starting to crumble under his own persona; the attention to detail in costumes, sets and choreography sell this little 'proto-Hollywood' of the Wild West Show and highlight the revisionist themes at play, and then there's the satire. Like Altman took the army and music to task, so too does he with America's love of romanticizing its western expansion and subjugation of natives. Where Sitting Bull represents a true, painful history and carries himself with true nobility, wisdom and grace, Bill's show is gaudy, sanitized and full of hot air. Sitting Bull is able to outfox Bill constantly by, in essence, being everything he claims to be and is not. This in turn leaves Bill at a crossroads of denial, doubt and bearing the weight of what he has created. In some ways, the satire remains extremely relevant, given the cult of celebrity and how media can be contorted to present particular versions of events.
Unfortunately, for all that's on its mind, BB&TIOSBHL is really dry and seems undecided if its comedy or drama. Scenes of Bill having breakdowns and references to the cruelties visited upon the Sioux clash with goofier stuff like Bill's opera singer lovers and various camp antics, mired in a tone that starts out as more absurd (exemplified by the opening Playbill-style credits) but remains mostly on the dour side. It always seems like scenes should go higher, being more tense or funnier, and yet never are. In addition, Burt Lancaster is wasted as little more than a glorified thematic exposition machine as the man who helped build Bill up, and never has that meaningful an impact on the rest of the narrative.
BB&TIOSBHL could've been one of Altman's best, a fusion of McCabe and Nashville, but falls short due to what seems like, weirdly, a lack of a cohesive vision for the project. The lofty screenplay lacks punch and wit, exacerbated by the slow pace. Only for Altman and Western satire junkies only.
There's a lot to admire in BB&TIOSBHL - the cast are all game, with Newman as a smug, up-himself version of Bill who is starting to crumble under his own persona; the attention to detail in costumes, sets and choreography sell this little 'proto-Hollywood' of the Wild West Show and highlight the revisionist themes at play, and then there's the satire. Like Altman took the army and music to task, so too does he with America's love of romanticizing its western expansion and subjugation of natives. Where Sitting Bull represents a true, painful history and carries himself with true nobility, wisdom and grace, Bill's show is gaudy, sanitized and full of hot air. Sitting Bull is able to outfox Bill constantly by, in essence, being everything he claims to be and is not. This in turn leaves Bill at a crossroads of denial, doubt and bearing the weight of what he has created. In some ways, the satire remains extremely relevant, given the cult of celebrity and how media can be contorted to present particular versions of events.
Unfortunately, for all that's on its mind, BB&TIOSBHL is really dry and seems undecided if its comedy or drama. Scenes of Bill having breakdowns and references to the cruelties visited upon the Sioux clash with goofier stuff like Bill's opera singer lovers and various camp antics, mired in a tone that starts out as more absurd (exemplified by the opening Playbill-style credits) but remains mostly on the dour side. It always seems like scenes should go higher, being more tense or funnier, and yet never are. In addition, Burt Lancaster is wasted as little more than a glorified thematic exposition machine as the man who helped build Bill up, and never has that meaningful an impact on the rest of the narrative.
BB&TIOSBHL could've been one of Altman's best, a fusion of McCabe and Nashville, but falls short due to what seems like, weirdly, a lack of a cohesive vision for the project. The lofty screenplay lacks punch and wit, exacerbated by the slow pace. Only for Altman and Western satire junkies only.