I do not really care so much for Altman's movies nor his style of directing. I did however enjoy The Long Goodbye which leads me to believe that i may actually enjoy some of his earlier work. But the newer movies tended to stray away from the usual film outline. Which is cool and innovative but the typical film outline is the way it is for a reason. It's what hooks us and keeps us involved in the story line. Too bad the last few movies we watched strayed so far that they didn't even really have a plot at all. For example a key scene from Nashville would be when Haven Hamilton is at the party mixing it up with all those stars and talking with some buddies. He doesn't even say anything really that sets up any story or moves a plot along. This scene adds nothing to the film and could be cut completely without me even noticing. That among many scenes from this movie made me feel this way. Maybe i need to give Nashville another look through. A theme that Altman really enjoys exploring would have to be social norms in different societies. In Nashville they kept most of the story on music and the grand ol opry and kind of portrayed people from Nashville as only interested in the music business. He made the people from Hollywood in The Player as only interested in films and the movie biz. Also both movies made the people from those areas seem dumb and worthless almost. In conclusion i feel that Altman has good intentions and is quite a skilled director. But that's just not my cup of tea.
