Ready to Wear (Prêt-à-Porter) Reviews

I tried four different times to watch this over two hours, but even though it has a cast of thousands (31 stars I guess), it has no continuity and puts you to sleep

Robert Altman's "Ready to Wear" is far to fluffy to be a significant satire. After the master class double feature of "The Player" and "Short Cuts," Altman tried to combine the structures of each of those films for "Ready to Wear." The result is a misguided, light as a feather comedy about the fashion industry. While the film is fast paced, the lack of any true story or thematic line is missing. There are glimpses of these, which give the appearance that the film could have been more than it is, but it is ultimately pat. But still, "Ready to Wear" can never be called bad, because it's fun, has a great cast of actors and a few pointed scenes that make it worthwhile. Should it have been meaner, like "The Player?" Yes. Should it have been as emotionally resonant as "Short Cuts?" Yes. But "Ready to Wear" is neither of these things and as it stands, it's just light fun.

I have a love hate thing going on with Altman movies. This is one of his I hate.

Interesting and worthy of a watch.

Clearly under-appreciated and an accurate painting on the hypersensitivity of fashion and the backstage of it.Altman might be tired after Short Cuts and The Player yet it's not like the recent ticking film pile of dazzling stars and no depth.Richard E. Grant is hilarious and so is the numbed,deadpan Mastroianni.Filled with vanity and nothing to wear by the latter stages,literately.

You'd think with this cast and this director this would be hit, but it's a miss - and a BIG miss.

I only watched the first 30 minutes of this while exercising on the treadmill. It had a lot of big name stars in it but it was still more boring than reading an encyclopedia.

Agood movie. Not one of Julia's most talented work, but then the every ageless Sophia Loren took a lot of the spotlight.

This was supposed to be funny. Being that I am not a fashionista I guess I didn't get it. What was with the running gag of dog poop? Do fashion types think stepping in dog crap is a funny thing????

Mostly useless, but the final scene is really good and features am excellent remix of the song "Pretty" by The Cranberries.

A lot of nothing. From the beginning, the audience watching Ready to Wear will be ready to sleep.

What about Anouk Amie?What about the repartee? Very clever and fun! It turned my kids into film enthusiasts!

Robert Altman's ADD was in full effect when he made this movie. And, it's a mess. A huge mess. But, it's like looking at an artist's sketch book. There's some really cool stuff here: the music, the all-star cast, Altman's probing camera. If you're in the mood... don't expect great storytelling... just soak it in.

okay...i don't know why this movie has a 27% rating. i want this movie to be drudged up and remembered well.

Not quite as bad as its reputation. Not all that great, either. Very middle of the work stuff from Altman - essentially a fashion version of [i]Nashville[/i]. There are a few moments and subplots that work, and a lot that don't. Surprisingly, I thought the only real standout was Kim Basinger, whose turn as an airheaded TV journalist is exceedingly funny. Ultimately though, too many of Altman's points and insinuations are just bloody obvious (individuals in the fashion industry are vapid and self-obsessed? Do go on.)

So unspeakably bad - its the first film that I was ever tempted to walk out of - but couldn't - been sat next to two avid movie goers who can, have and will watch anything.
Suffice to say it still scars me 15 years after watching it to the point of writing this review. Plotless, listless, it seemed to lump uncontrollably from scene to scene with little to patch it together. Some have said satire - it was more like a gentle, self satisfied nod to some old friends of the directors. If you are tempted to watch... well you've been warned!

(from The Watermark 01/17/95)
Ready To Wear (Pret-a-Porter), the latest film from acclaimed director Robert Altman, takes aim at the world of modeling and fashion in the unique satirical Altman style of storytelling. With a subject matter so rich with possibilities for criticism and commentary, Altman (who brought us The Player and Short Cuts) surprisingly misses the mark more often than not, especially with the parts of the film that seem to be the strongest. Ultimately, the film is an occasionally comic glimpse into the world of fashion with a lot of filler that adds color but no substance.

Pret-a-Porter (French for ?ready to wear?) is the name of the international fashion convention being held in Paris that is the backdrop for Altman?s stories: a mysterious foreigner (Marcello Mastroianni) comes to Paris to reclaim his long lost wife (Sophia Loren) and is suspected of murdering her current husband (Jean-Pierre Cassel); an unlikely romance blossoms between two American reporters (Tim Robbins and Julia Roberts) who are forced to share a hotel room; three fashion magazine editors (Tracey Ullman, Linda Hunt, and Sally Kellerman) compete to recruit a top fashion photographer (Stephen Rhea); two pairs of fashion designer spouses are all having extra-marital affairs with each other, unaware that they are partner-swapping; the girlfriend of a fashion show patron (Teri Garr, Danny Aiello) misses the events to go on a wild shopping spree for clothes for him to wear to a cross-dressers? convention; a fluff-TV reporter (Kim Basinger) tries to get all the hot stories at the convention while making a nuisance of herself.

Altman gives the film a wonderful international flavor by keeping the dialogue multilingual and providing subtitles for the parts in Russian, French, and Italian. The style of the film is very documentary with hand-held cameras and partially improvised performances to give the effect of ?real? people behind-the-scenes. At times, Pret-A-Porter becomes an actual documentary with celebrities playing themselves, and being ?interviewed? by Basinger, while we see montages of the different fashion shows. The music used during the actual runway segments is well chosen, including the works of Bjork, The New Power Generation, and The Cranberries.

The real failure of Pret-a-Porter is that it never quite integrates all of the stories, nor does it validate all of its subplots. The relationship between Robbins and Roberts does nothing to enhance the movie; they are neither interesting nor likable characters, and their presence borders on the non-sequitur. Where Altman does create plots that are well-constructed, such as Rhea?s trickery against the three editors, and Aiello?s cross-dressing, the film ends before any resolutions take place, leaving its best parts illogically abandoned.

Altman saves his ?big? statement on the fashion industry for the film?s end when Cassel?s mistress finds herself unable to put her work on the runway after her son has sold out their financial interests to a Texan boot manufacturer (Lyle Lovett). The message is dead-on, but is weakened by the fact that it emerges from one of the smallest and least developed subplots in the film. In actuality, the only fully rounded story presented is that of Mastroianni and Loren, which includes a charming reenactment of their famous bedroom scene from Divorce, Italian Style - with a twist.

As with his other works, Altman?s comic bite is present and frequently hilarious, such as one designer exclaiming that he can?t use a pregnant model because his bustles are worn on the back, and Basinger mispronouncing ?Paris? during her interview segments as her eyes are glued to the cue cards somebody else has written for her. Yet at other times jokes are tasteless and overdone, such as an attempted running gag of people stepping in dog 'merde', and Roberts? character needing to be drunk to have sex with Robbins. For the amount of laughs and substance it contains, the two-and-a-half hour Pret-a-Porter is too lengthy for its own good, and it cannot be argued that Altman didn?t have the screen time necessary to properly express himself. All-in-all, Pret-a-Porter is as shallow as the industry it portrays.

An okay spoof of the fashion industry. Not very funny, but the film holds viewer interest throughout.

An okay spoof of the fashion industry. Not very funny, but the film holds viewer interest throughout.

Here's another film rating.