THE AISLE SEAT - by Mike McGranaghan

"BREWSTER MCCLOUD"

I love the late Robert Altman. This is not to say that I loved everything that he did. Altman made some movies I thought were brilliant (The Player, Short Cuts), some I thought were good (A Prairie Home Companion), some that didn't work for me personally (Gosford Park), and some real clunkers (Ready to Wear). And then there's Brewster McCloud, which is perhaps Altman's oddest film, yet one whose peculiarity has earned it genuine cult status. The movie has been remastered and is now available on DVD from WarnerArchive.com. I'd long heard of Brewster's reputation, but I'd never experienced it until now. Anyone who cherishes Altman's work definitely needs to see this defiantly kooky comedy.

Bud Cort plays the title character, a guy who lives inside the Astrodome. Brewster dreams of flying away from his dreary existence, so he toils on a set of homemade wings that he hopes will do the trick. His plan becomes more complicated when he is implicated as a local strangler, whose victims are all found covered with bird droppings. After meeting and falling for a quirky young woman (Shelley Duvall), Brewster decides it's time to step up his plan so they can escape together.

Now, this being a Robert Altman movie, you can be sure that the director has no real interest in the murders. In fact, you never once see Brewster inflict any harm on anyone. Instead, we follow a plethora of eccentric supporting characters, which includes a suave detective (Michael Murphy), a determined beat cop (John Schuck), an elderly bookie who works the nursing home circuit (Stacy Keach), and Brewster's assistant (Sally Kellerman). There are frequent interludes from a professor (Rene Auberjonois) who appears to lecture us about the behavior of birds. The actions of the characters not-so-coincidentally mirror what he tells us.

Brewster McCloud has all of Altman's trademarks: a satiric point of view, an ensemble cast, and overlapping dialogue. What stands out most, though, is his sheer willingness to engage in freeform play. The film is never afraid to go off on tangents - in many ways, the whole thing is a tangent - or to subvert what you expect. Nowhere is this truer than the ending, which is saved from tragedy by the unexpected arrival of a circus. Seriously. I also loved all the bizarre little touches, such as the way birds poop on anyone McCloud dislikes.

While perhaps not as sublime as his best work, Brewster McCloud is pure Altman, and it's a joy to see the late director experimenting. This desire to play it unsafe is Altman's legacy in cinema; that he does it so bravely here is reason enough to check the picture out.

( out of four)

Note: Also included on the Warner Archive DVD is the movie's spoiler-filled trailer. Watch it after the main feature.

Brewster McCloud is rated R for some sexual content and language. The running time is 1 hour and 40 minutes.