Streamers (1983)
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Movie Info
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Cast
as Billy
as Carlyle
as Richie
as Roger
as Rooney
as Cokes
as Martin
as Pfc. Bush
as Lt. Townsend
as MP Lieutenant
as MP Sgt. Kilick
as Orderly
as MP Sgt. Savio
as Dr. Banes
as Staff Sergeant
as MP
Critic Reviews for Streamers
All Critics (9) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (4) | DVD (6)
It goes partway toward realizing the full effect of a stage play as a film, then botches the job by the overabundant use of film techniques, which dismember what should be an ensemble performance.
Sure it's searing and intense, but so is a microwave oven.
M*A*S*H* stripped from its wise-guy veneer
... a different kind of filmed theater that combines the intimacy of the original play with a cinematic expressiveness.
What elevates the film above a dated topical discussion is Altman's imagining of the army barracks as a hothouse environment where tensions and fears play out in oddly manic outbursts%u2014and his direction of his actors accordingly.
The ensemble cast comes up smart with some fine spontaneous performances.
Audience Reviews for Streamers
An intense and well written drama that deals with matters like racism, homophobia, self-acceptance and the dehumanizing side of war, relying on a revealing dialogue and with strong performances by its entire ensemble cast, especially Michael Wright and George Dzundza.
Super Reviewer
This was made for the theater, the transition to cinema doesn't work at all.
Super Reviewer
The string of films Robert Altman made during the 1980s ("Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean," "Secret Honor," "Fool for Love," "Beyond Therapy") were all adaptations of stage plays. Altman attempted to blur the line between stage and screen by sticking almost exactly to the staging, sets, dialogue and structure of the plays. Of course, he brought his filmic sensibilities to each picture, always emphasizing the aspects Altman deemed most important. While none of the films are particularly successful, it's still a worthy experiment. As for "Streamers," it's a difficult film. Unfortunately, it's not difficult because of the subject matter (the Vietnam War, homosexuality, racism) but because the actors over act, the film feels stagey and claustrophobic, and there just ins't anything to truly hold your attention. While it's one of Altman's more complex (failed) experiments it's also a very uncomfortable 2 hours (and not in the good way "3 Women" or "Images" is).
Super Reviewer
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