>Altman didn't care for Nashville or
>the South and that shows.

I actually think Nashville is one of Altman's least judgemental movies. Especially when you compare it to something like MASH which is really cruel in its treatment of some of the characters.

>There's no real heroes, nobody is
>working towards anything all that positive.

Why do we need a hero in the movie? Or in any movie for that matter? Even in genre movies like westerns or crime movies, the best ones always explore moral ambiguities and blur lines between the "good guys" and "bad guys".

If there's no heroes in Nashville, there aren't any villains either. That's not to say there aren't acts of cruelty on the one hand or compassion on the other in Nashville. There are. But it's more complicated than that, just like life.

>if a one-sided movie
>like this came out about hip hop, people would be up in arms
>about the portrayal of the culture.
>

Well, look, I can tell you this: there is probably no kind of music on this earth I like more than country music. And I'm not at all "up in arms" about the portrayal of it or Nashville in general in this film. By and large the music being produced in Nashville then was slick and plastic. It wasn't very good. And it's only gotten worse since then.

But "Nashville", the movie, isn't really about country music. It's much more about celebrity and people holding onto a dream that won't come true for them. In that sense the country music scene in Nashville is more of a metaphor, a stand in for the bigger "American Dream".

>And the understated nature of many of the relationships dulls
>the drama/emotion. For me, it's a film you appreciate more
>than actually getting caught up in.

Fair enough. But I must say I don't share that opinion. I find it a very involving movie. Especially the stories of Barbara Jean and Sueleen Gay.