In this acclaimed Robert Altman drama, the lives of numerous people in the Tennessee capital intersect in unpredictable ways. Delbert Reese (Ned Beatty) is a lawyer and political organizer who is having difficulties in his marriage to Linnea (Lily Tomlin), a gospel vocalist. Other performers heavily featured in this renowned ensemble production include country singers Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley) and Connie White (Karen Black), who are rivals in the city's thriving music scene.
Charismatic gambler John McCabe (Warren Beatty) arrives in a mining community and decides to open a brothel. The local residents are impressed by his confident demeanor and fast talk, but crafty prostitute Constance Miller (Julie Christie) sees through McCabe's words and realizes he isn't as sharp as he seems. For a share in his profits, Mrs. Miller agrees to help plan and run McCabe's establishment, but soon a powerful company threatens to destroy what they have built up.
This terrific Walter Hill Western follows the careers of the James and Younger brothers--and uses the nifty idea of casting actual clans of acting siblings in the roles. Thus, the James brothers are played by James and Stacy Keach; the Youngers by David, Keith, and Robert Carradine; the Millers by Randy and Dennis Quaid; and the Fords by Christopher and Nicholas Guest. Hill, working with an evocative Ry Cooder score, creates a film that is at once breathtakingly exciting and elegiac in its treatment of these post-Civil War outlaws.
