Director: Robert Altman? It’s always a little mystifying that something like this could have happened. But then again, Coppola directed Jack (1996). Shit’s been weird all over, for far longer than most people have ever bothered to remember.
Cast: Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Paul L. Smith, Paul Dooley
Have I Seen It Before?: Never. Until it popped up on Netflix with a runtime and everything, I couldn’t be 100% sure that the movie wasn’t some sort of extended practical joke on the world. I’ve read plenty about the troubled making of the film, but even then I thought it was at least slightly possible that they just decided everyone would be better off not finishing the film at all.
Did I like it?: One cannot deny that Shelley Duvall is perfectly cast. One can really only point to Patrick Stewart’s run as Professor Charles Xavier for a more perfect fusion of established screen presence and iconic role.
The rest of the film is… Well, it’s not nearly as bad as its reputation has sometimes made it out to be.
Still, it’s not a great film, or even a good one. It’s flaws are not in the casting, to be sure (even Williams, who seems unusual casting for the role lives up to it with the help of prosthetics), or even the mere idea that no one ever needed a film based on any cartoon.
It’s more the spirit and energy with which this is all presented. Is it possible for someone to produce a musical by accident? Every song and accompanying dance number is mumbled in the moment as if there was no plan for what effect the filmmakers might have wanted. Given that the aforementioned troubled history indicates the films existence is an attempt for Paramount to compensate for losing the rights of the eventual Annie (1982) to Columbia. At least Annie was based on a Broadway show of some renown, while this appeared to come about as an afterthought, and it shows.