wilsonld-1 I saw this movie some years ago and never forgot it. I really like the way the characters are developed. They are quirky and flawed, but understandably human. It has an excellent sound track also which I found hauntingly flowed throughout the move and added to the story line. I recently saw another movie by Robert Altman called "Nashville" which again reminded me of "Welcome to LA". It has many of the same actors and the same piano player, Richard Baskin. Again I find the characters very interesting with interwoven plots as part of the story line. Just like real life we see the good and bad in people. I also enjoy the parady of typical character types. It is obvious but in my opinion, not overdone.

stephenpaultaylor i am in love with this film and i cannot explain why. my uncle thinks i'm a nutcase for loving this film so much. but i can't help it. People diss the music. I love it. The ambiance. The swingin' seventies. Sissy Spacek. Sally Kellermen, so vulnerable yet strangely sexy. Keith. This film endeared me to Keith Carradine, whom I now see precious little of.Such a great character... sure, a little pretentiously boho, but the poor guy has a father that can't express his love... The Greta Garbo scene with Geraldine Chaplin. Classic. The slow act of leaning onto the pool table; her tortured, self-absorbed, self-pitying character, intriguing, passive aggressive, unable to express herself, caught in a loveless relationship with a young Harvey Keitel, who was great in this flick. Slimy. The way he talks to Spacek about taking the relationship far beyond your average man/ woman relationship. Wow. Nice tempo, too. A bit languid. The film is more about atmosphere than fast tempo plot. The bits with Carol Barber chugging back "steamboat", watching Eric Wood play his songs, sinking into the background, while his dad's young girlfriend (who takes pictures of corners - classic) eyes him; intrigued.Swingin' sex, corny yet endearing music ("Livin' in a city of one night stands, sleepin' next to pity and it's crazy"), and Keith Carradine with a love patch. What more could you want?A film that is easy to hate, in many respects, but I just can't do it. It's a guilty pleasure. A guilty, delightful pleasure.

nunculus You can't help but compare it to the other big L.A. Statement Movies--Altman's SHORT CUTS, and P.T. Anderson's MAGNOLIA. I like Rudolph's way better than either of those: it's gentler, humbler, more observant, truer. Limiting himself to a dozen or so L.A. habitues, Rudolph starts with one funny, correct move: no movie people. The dances of disconnection, attempted connection, failed connection, and--stunning!--connection accomplished are as tender and as finely, thinly observed as Rudolph has ever pulled off. So many beautiful moments here: the best comes when Keith Carradine, as a dupe of his sleepy-stud character from NASHVILLE, breaks up a romance to go on a healing mission with a half-crazy housewife (Geraldine Chaplin). When his philandering with her rescues her marriage during a tense phone call in his apartment, Carradine's face spreads with gladness and relief. The rightness and the unexpectedness of the moment is fantastic. Even more than the goofy, enjoyably romantic CHOOSE ME, this is the one where Rudolph got it all right. And no other movie captures L.A.'s peculiar loneliness like this one: he doesn't hype anything or play to the tourist mentality--something that could not always be said for his mentor, and the movie's producer, Robert Altman.

Lleu I like many of Alan Rudolph's films, and this is one of his best (Choose Me is also good). Although it was made in `77, the story is still relevant today. The lonely, alienated characters whose lives sometimes intersect (but only briefly) has a resonance that somehow captures the modern urban landscape, and L.A. in particular. Keith Carradine, as a near-alcoholic songwriter is the central character.He has brief flings with several women, played by Geraldine Chaplin, Lauren Hutton and Sally Kellerman. This is hardly a cheerful film and some may find it too slow-moving but what stands out is the underlying atmosphere and pathos.