Welcome To L.A. (1977)

Set in Los Angeles during Christmas, a group of various characters interact with each other searching for something. But what? Love? Sex? Communication? If they're in a relationship, they're unhappy, if they're not in a relationship, they want one. They are a songwriter (Keith Carradine), an agent (Viveca Lindfors), a free spirited maid (Sissy Spacek), a realtor (Sally Kellerman), a businessman (Harvey Keitel), a photographer (Lauren Hutton), a millionaire (Denver Pyle), a spaced out housewife (Geraldine Chaplin), a furniture salesman (John Considine) and a pop star (Richard Baskin). Produced by Robert Altman and directed by Alan Rudolph, the film's sensibilities are clearly influenced by Altman but the film lacks Altman's essence. It would take a few more movies under his belt before Rudolph found his own voice. In fact, the film seems like a trial run for Rudolph's later and superior CHOOSE ME. I liked the Richard Baskin songs that hold the film together but the only character I had any feeling for was Chaplin's lost waif (it may be my favorite Chaplin performance). The film is too aimless for its own good without any artistic content to justify it. With Diahnne Abbott and Allan F. Nicholls.