i be not convince that this film be not more well respect just because director robert altman name be attach . show kansas city to your average casual film viewer without let them know who direct and or you can even let them know and if theyre not cineastes and do not know altman and and i think the average opinion would be much low . that not to say there be no positive quality to the film and but it be far more burdened with flaw and and it more likely to ultimately annoy rather than entertain . the story be of course set in kansas city and during the depression . blondie ohara ( jennifer jason leigh ) enter the home of socialite carolyn stilton ( miranda richardson ) under false pretense ( she say she there to give mrs. stilton her normal manicure ) and end up pull a gun on her . mrs. stilton figure it just your run of the mill robbery and but ohara want something else . ohara husband and johnny ( dermot mulroney ) and have get himself into trouble and mrs. stilton influential husband and henry ( michael murphy ) and an adviser to president roosevelt and can help him out . let me mention the positive aspect of the film first and because otherwise i will likely run out of room . the primary asset be the film music . because of the setting and include that a lot of the film take place in a black jazz joint and the hey hey club and the music be jazz during it transitional phase between swing and early bop heck and even a young charlie parker ( albert j. burnes ) be in the film and although the setting have parker too young to be show performing ( and parker turn out to be irrelevant to the film ) . but it do have musician play lester young and coleman hawkins and and count basie and and the musician who perform throughout the film read like all all star roster of contemporary jazzers and include david murray and joshua redman and david fathead newman and ron carter and christian mcbride and geri allen and victor lewis . the music be excellent if youre a jazz fan and a altman must be . the other asset be that production designer stephen altman and the director son and do an excellent job get the period set right . especially if youre into classic car of the era and the film will be a treat to watch and but all of the detail seem right . the cinematography isn not bad and either . however and even as good a the music be and it just doesn not work within the context of the film . most of the musician can not act but try to . maybe it that they weren not direct very well by altman . he feature them on camera too much and and even lingers on them for relatively long song . a concert film feature the band would have be great . in the middle of a dramatic film and these shot just feel like pad with bad act . the story itself and although relatively simple too simple and perhaps and be chop up and told a if it go to have some big revelation or twist . altman keep unnecessarily jump back and forth in time but just a few hour and and he keep unnecessarily jump back and forth between different set of character in the middle of ( very ) long scene . i guess he realize the scene be too long and need to be break up . the scene should have be cut back instead . more should have happen . far too often and scene feel like theyre stretch out with pointless dialogue just to increase the film run time . and the dialogue isn not just pointless . it load with non sequiturs . i have never experience laudanum or know anyone who have and but one of the character and show a a laudanum user and regularly speaks gibberish . at least that seem to be the excuse for it . it turn out that everyone in the film routinely speak gibberish a if theyre on some kind of heavy drug . not every line be like that and but enough be that it relatively inexplicable . the plot in general have a lot of non sequiturs . it seem almost a if altman and who co write the script with frank barhydt and be shoot for some kind of bizarre surrealism and except that surrealism seem so out of context for the setting and basic gist of the film and and it too understated to seem intentional . i just do not get why people in the film would speak and behave so oddly . then there be the performance . i have like jennifer jason leigh in some film i absolutely love existenz ( 1999 ) for example and and she certainly can act like someone other than herself and which a lot of people seem to use a one of the main criterion for good acting and but her character here be so annoying that i couldn not wait for the film to be over . she bizarrely bark out her dialogue in a grating accent . when i thought of it upon wake up this morning with my review gelling in my head ( i usually watch film at night then think about them while i head off to sleep review often pop up almost fully form when i awake ) and i burst out laugh remember the character . it something i would more expect from an alien sketch on a show like madtv or saturday night live . imagine prymatt conehead with a sour and somewhat hyper brooklyn attitude . harry belafonte and a the ridiculously name seldom see and also tend to be annoy and he probably have more line than anyone else but leigh . a number of other character be primarily annoy and too . the only one i really do not mind be miranda richardson and despite the gibberish and and she also gorgeous and so she a treat to watch . there be a couple good sequence and but they tend to be those focus on action when character be up and about and do something rather than sit in a room and talk and and the climax be great ( i even cheer ) . unfortunately and those sequence be few and far between . the majority of the film just seem flat and draw out . my advice be to just buy the soundtrack while avoid the film .