A tiresome ensemble piece
blending conspiracies, politics, romance, and satire through the mechanism of
interconnected storylines and a kaleidescopic soundtrack, Robert Altman’s HealtH comes across as Nashville Lite. At best, HealtH is a goofy comedy using the
intrigue at a health-food convention as a means of spoofing the corruption of
modern American politics. At worst, HealtH
is a pretentious trifle from an overrated director repeating old tricks. It’s
interesting that HealtH was released
in 1980, because the film’s artistic and commercial failure neatly bookends the
chapter in Altman’s career that began with the success of M*A*S*H exactly one decade earlier. Over the course of the ’70s,
Altman made a number of fine films and just as many bad ones, cementing his
reputation as an iconoclast who put together wonderful casts by offering the
promise of loose work environments and unconventional material. Yet by the time
Altman derailed with the twin 1980 misfires of HealtH and Popeye, his
first run as a commercial director was over. It wouldn’t be until 1992’s The Player that Altman was able to
assemble a cast as impressive as the one he gathered for HealtH.
Set at a hotel in Florida, HealtH observes a convention at which the officers of a massive
health-food organization gather to elect their new president. The leading candidates are Esther Brill (Lauren Bacall), a pontificating
83-year-old virgin with narcolepsy; Isabelle Garnell (Glenda Jackson), an
insufferable progressive who recites old Adlai Stevenson speeches whether or
not anyone’s listening; Gloria Burbank (Carol Burnett), a neurotic political
operative with White House connections; and Dr. Gil Gainey (Paul Dooley), a
vitamin salesman using his “campaign” as a publicity stunt to hype his products.
Also involved in the election are Gloria’s ex-husband, Harry Wolff (James
Garner); dirty-tricks specialist Bobby Hammer (Henry Gibson); crazed cowboy
Colonel Cody (Donald Moffatt); and real-life talk-show host Dick Cavett, who
plays himself.
The mosaic structure of the picture showcases
bizarre behavior in a casual style. One gets the sense of Altman and his
collaborators indulging their shared sense of humor, so the resulting film
feels like a compendium of in-jokes. The actors are all so skilled that some of
the gags almost connect, but the overall vibe is quite tiresome. Altman adds
virtually nothing to the statements about democratic elections that he made in
Nashville, and he seems disinterested
in health-food culture beyond making a few judgmental digs. Not surprisingly, HealtH never found a major audience.
Altman made the film as part of a multipicture deal with Fox, delivering his
third dud in a row after A Perfect Couple
and Quintet (both 1979), so Fox
initially balked at releasing HealtH.
Altman snuck the film into a few theaters during 1980, and the studio released
the picture properly in 1982, when it tanked.
HealtH:
FUNKY
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