With the recent passing of Bud Cort, I figured I'd never have a better excuse to finally watch this somewhat devicive Robert Altman film. The directors follow up to the hugely successful 'M*A*S*H', he went in a very different direction, high concept, dry, satire-ish and kind of mystical, 'Brewster McCloud' has a tone unique to its self. Bud Cort is an orphan who lives in a fallout shelter in the Houston Astrodome, where with the assistance of the mysterious Sally Kellerman, he works to construct a set of working wings based on the works of Leonardo DiVinci and the Wright Brothers. He also might be a serial killer.
A string of murders, in which the victims are always found with bird droppings on them, prompts the Mayor of Huston (William Windall) to bring in a high profile, celebrity detective from San Francisco to solve the case. The detective is played by Altman regular Micheal Murphy and is a play on the Shaft/Dirty Harry detective trops of the time, this character could have his own movie.
Eclectic cast includes a 29 year old Stacy Keach under heavy make up as the elderly third Wright Brother; John Schuck as one of the countless cops he played; Jenny Salt as a young woman with a crush on Brewster; the Wicked Witch herself Margret Hamilton as the wife of the owner of the Astrodome; René Auberjonois as the films ornithologist narrator; and Shelly Duvall with an 'introducing' credit as Brewster's flighty tour guide love interest (the Duvall film persona came fully formed). Music from John Phillips of 'The Mamas and the Papas'.
I think I'm going to need to wait a bit and then watch this movie again to fully digest it. I liked it, if I had to sum the movie up in one word I'd go with 'playful'. Even among Altman's mass of ideocentric film output, this proto-'Nashville' may be his most ideocentric. ***1/2
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