A Nostalgic Favorite
Both Robert Altman and Robin Williams have disowned this film, and I'm not sure why. Sure, it's not Citizen Kane - it's POPEYE, for Chrissakes! I had the soundtrack on vinyl (?!) as a child, and the music by notoriously self-destructive Harry Nilsson will rattle around in your brain for days afterward. As always with Altman's films, his personal touches (2.35:1 Widescreen, various scenes of many people talking at once) are here in full force, and this is William's first theatrical role. Ray Walston is loveably cranky as Poopdeck, and Shelley Duvall is annoyingly accurate as Olive. Not the best film ever (Plot? What plot?), but a childhood favorite.