Barbara Jean (Blakley), the queen of the biggest country music
festival in the world, is warbling herself to bits. Her colleague,
Haven Hamilton (Gibson) sanctimoniously takes centre stage to sing
"For the sake of the children / We must say good-bye." For the
sake of her deaf children, a gospel singer (Tomlin) says goodbye to a
womanising guitarist (Carradine). And, all the while, a campaign
truck for third party Presidential candidate Hal Phillip Walker
blares his inane message through the streets on roof-mounted
speakers. One could go on for all 24 major characters. But Altman's
all-encompassing classic is so definitive and authentic it
practically reviews itself.
