Synopsis
A pair of kidnappings expose the complex power dynamics within the corrupt and unpredictable workings of 1930s Kansas City.
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Cast
- Jennifer Jason LeighBlondie O'Hara
- Miranda RichardsonCarolyn Stilton
- Harry BelafonteSeldom Seen
- Michael MurphyHenry Stilton
- Dermot MulroneyJohnny O'Hara
- Steve BuscemiJohnny Flynn
- Brooke SmithBabe Flynn
- Jane AdamsNettie Bolt
- Jeff FeringaAddie Parker
- A.C. SmithSheepshan Red
Recommendations
- 80
Empire
Many will find Kansas City unbearable, because Leigh (with a mouth full of jagged teeth and a permanent snarl) and Richardson (who totters along in a druggy stupour), give brilliant performances as extremely unpleasant characters. Furthermore, the ending is a real slap-in-the-face downer. But if you can get past that, this is the real stuff. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
What he asks of the actors (those who are “soloists,” anyway) is not realism but the same kind of playful show-off performances he's getting from the musicians. And to understand the acting, it's helpful to begin with the music. - 70
Newsweek
Kansas City can be regarded as a jazz tone poem on themes of race, politics, money and the movies themselves. - 67
Entertainment Weekly
So much is satisfying in KC that its shortcomings are all the more discordant. - 63
ReelViews
Though Kansas City has its share of arresting moments, the production as a whole is too superficial to be considered amongst the director's best work. - 60
The New York Times
If the movie, which uses blues-based Kansas City jazz as a raucous, nonverbal Greek chorus, lacks the emotional range of Mr. Altman's masterpiece, ''Nashville,'' it still has its own brawling vitality. - 60
Variety
For Altman, this is a major statement about American hypocrisy and society’s haves and have-nots, in line with many of his films, but issued in a kind of offhand way that delivers only glancing emotional impact. - 50
Austin Chronicle
Although the movie contains occasional moments of glimpsed accomplishment, Kansas City is for the most part a lame duck.
