Wonderful, beautifully acted film about lives interweaving in Los Angeles against the backdrop of an invading poisonous bug. Ensemble cast is perfect, with standout performances by Robbins and Downey Jr. Altman succeeds in bringing us a film examining the coincidence of everyday life that we are too busy to notice. Shows a keen sense for relationships and the hardships of loss.

Robert Altman's honorary Oscar win on Sunday brings to mind all his movies, including this one. "Short Cuts" seems like the sort of movie that would split even Robert Altman's hard-core fans. Most of the characters are either jerks (such as Tim Robbins's character) or completely helpless (such as Andie MacDowell's character). But the movie is an interesting look at the empty, isolated lives that people live in LA. As in all of Altman's movies, everyone's talking at once. There's one scene with Julianne Moore that makes you think "Oh God! They're actually filming that!"; you'll know it when you see it. Worth seeing, although I wouldn't call this one of Altman's best. Also starring Bruce Davison, Jack Lemmon, Matthew Modine, Anne Archer, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Madeline Stowe, Chris Penn, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey Jr, Lily Tomlin, and Tom Waits, plus guest appearances by Jerry Dunphy and Alex Trebek.