Critics reviews

Robert Altman as director was certainly a curious choice, but his felicity with ensemble casts, period filmmaking, and quirky characters, and his strong love of music served him well. Screenwriter Jules Feiffer turned in a nuanced script and songwriter Harry Nilsson crafted a set of lovely and eccentric songs; both carefully straddle the line between sincerity and playful parody.

This is surely the most important revival screening of the week, a chance to see an unsung American masterpiece in the big-screen environment it deserves. The film remains remarkable for possessing one of the greatest brain trusts in American movies... The contributions of these artists combine to form something much grander than the sum of their parts—the film may be the most operatic comic-strip adaptation ever made

The same fly-on-the-wall direction that captured the tragicomic naturalism of the Grand Ole Opry or an Army hospital is applied to Sweet Haven, where an octopus battle or a falling piano are routine. In his debut starring role, Williams imbues in the ornery sailor-man a lonely innocence, which is then conveyed via Harry Nilsson's simple melodies.

Altman directs the complex web of social interactions with a frame that's both inclusive and prying. And the actors he collected and dropped in Malta's simulated community help evoke an atmosphere that is genial yet guarded.

With Williams giving a virtuoso fast-mumbling performance as the hero, and gags ranging from expertly choreographed slapstick to subtle verbal infelicities (Popeye muttering about 'venerable disease'), it is far too sophisticated to function merely as kids' fodder... Often, watching the actors contorting themselves into non-human shapes, you wonder how on earth Altman did it; equally often, you feel you are watching a wacky masterpiece, the like of which you've never seen before.

Robert Altman's busy, detailed mise-en-scene, flattened cartoon-style through space-compacting long lenses, does capture some of the frenetic atmosphere of the Fleischer cartoons, but it tends to crowd out, and neutralize, the story values. The plotting of this 1980 feature—outsider in a hostile environment—is personal to Altman, though few of the feelings survive the clutter: it looks like a remake of McCabe and Mrs. Miller stripped of deep commitment.