Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country

Kaplan has been an associate of Robert Altman since the mid-'70s, so you'd hardly expect his documentary on the making of Short Cuts to be in any way critical. That said, it avoids the sort of hagiographic gush that mars most on-set promos, while one evident advantage of his friendship with Altman was that he had unprecedented access to cast, crew and director alike. True, long-term admirers of the great man won't learn very much they didn't already know, but more recent converts should find this movie-on-the-movie intelligent and illuminating. Kaplan's prime achievement is his film's clarity; it's structured chronologically, charting the production from inception to wrap party, and interviewing each member of the large cast in sequence while they were on set.