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When a movie runs for more than three hours and leaves you wanting more, that’s an achievement in itself. But filmdom’s oldest enfant terrible, Robert Altman, hasn’t just made a long movie here—he’s made a big one, too. Using the short stories of the late Raymond Carver as a jumping-off point, Altman takes the viewer into the day-to-day life of Los Angeles, here not a city of glamour but a distinctly workaday place, like a very large Akron. It’s a place where all the people make all the wrong choices and disaster is only a step away. But guess what—it’s also fun! That’s mostly due to the great work turned in by a huge cast, including Tim Robbins, Lyle Lovett, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Madeleine Stowe, Andie MacDowell, and Fred Ward. The one peculiar thing about Altman’s L.A. is its dearth of Latinos, African-Americans, and Asians. But then, Short Cuts (1993), like The Player, is reality as imagined by Robert Altman. And it’s much more entertaining than the real thing.