Kansas City (1996) review

A typically 'busy' Altman feature, only this takes place in his hometown during the 1930's: small-time thug Johnny O'Hara (Dermot Mulroney) is in major trouble with gangster/business owner "Seldom Seen" (Harry Belafonte) for trying to rob him, so Johnny's wife "Blondie" (Jennifer Jason Leigh) kidnaps laudanum addict Carolyn (Miranda Richardson) and demands her husband, politician Henry Stilton (Michael Murphy), intervene to save Johnny's life.  While the nostalgia factor for the director is apparent, and the visual elements of the movie (from the sets to the decor) are effective, the narrative is awfully disjointed and often feels like a bad parody of mob movies from that era - Leigh's character, sporting a mouthful of stained teeth and a lit cigarette always dangling from her fingers, is particularly hammy, and Belafonte's dapper crime figure sure does a lot of rambling.  The scenes of several accomplished (modern) jazz musicians - including James Carter, Craig Handy and Joshua Redman - playing together are a welcome relief from whatever else is supposedly going on.