In Paris during the unveiling of the latest fashion lines, all sorts of people turn up: an aging Russian (Mastroianni) and a lover he hasn't seen in a long time but wants to hook up with again (Loren); three fashion publishers (Sally Kellerman, Tracey Ullmann, Linda Hunt) all battling to land a successful but unsavory photographer (Rea); a gushing US TV reporter (Basinger); a poofy designer who learns his favorite model is pregnant (Richard E. Grant); a transvestite buyer for Marshall Field's (Danny Aiello) and his understanding wife (Terri Garr); a pair of American reporters who have lost their suitcases and therefore stay in bed, drinking and making love (Tim Robbins and Julia Roberts); and many many more. The "plot," such as it is, involves the death of a much-despised fashion czar whom everyone is glad to see gone, but whose death is reported as a possible murder. His "widowed" mistress (Aimee) fights to hold onto his empire, which her son (Everett) is scheming to sell, perhaps to the cowboy boot manufacturer (Lyle Lovett). But this is mainly a typical Robert Altman "vast ensemble satire" of the fashion industry, circa 1994, with overlapping characters and multiple storylines, which is a little on the frothy side. Filmed in Paris during a fashion week, the movie gets an eyeful of real fashion models (Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell), designers, and celebs (Cher, David Copperfield, Harry Belafonte). Aging Mastroianni and especially Loren look great, and she recreates a striptease she did for him 30 years before in "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" -- only this time he's snoring by the climax.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
