I grew up in L.A. and occasionally go back to visit friends who still live there & are involved in the 'industry'. This movie is right on the money. It's right on the money, from the town class demographics (blue collar, trailer park Downey to the anonymous architecture of the San Fernando Valley to the upscale digs in Laurel Canyon); to the dysfunctional familes; to the pathetic fawning over any celebrity (Alex Trebec!!??) to the Low Note where nobody knows your name; to all the lower echelon movie industry workers who seek celebrity by association; and the Dickensian way that they weave in and out of each others' lives without ever touching in a meaningful way--Altman cuts close to the bone. The title is even an insiders' joke about getting from point A to point B in a town where everyone measures the distance in the minutes it takes to arrive and the time of day that gives you the edge over the traffic nightmares.
The malathion spraying for agricultural pests in an area where the cash crops are concrete, hype, and real estate is the clincher. I still lived there when this was going on, and the spin-doctoring about a chemical being 'harmless' that made car paint melt and run was pathetically absurd. If you've never lived in L.A., this movie might go right over your head.
I wish it was on DVD. Altman may not be god, but he's damn close!
The malathion spraying for agricultural pests in an area where the cash crops are concrete, hype, and real estate is the clincher. I still lived there when this was going on, and the spin-doctoring about a chemical being 'harmless' that made car paint melt and run was pathetically absurd. If you've never lived in L.A., this movie might go right over your head.
I wish it was on DVD. Altman may not be god, but he's damn close!