{"id":8250,"date":"2023-03-10T14:41:48","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T19:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=8250"},"modified":"2023-04-23T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T18:00:01","slug":"robin-williams-is-the-mumbling-sailor-man-in-robert-altmans-slacker-popeye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/robin-williams-is-the-mumbling-sailor-man-in-robert-altmans-slacker-popeye\/","title":{"rendered":"Robin Williams is the mumbling sailor man in Robert Altman’s slacker Popeye"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>Rating: 3 out of 5.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

There are many downright strange aspects to the one-and-only Popeye<\/em> movie, and you may be forgiven for thinking the strangest of all is that it was directed by Robert Altman<\/a>, or perhaps that there has been no subsequent attempt at a reboot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to me, the biggest mystery is how this could possibly be one of Robin Williams<\/a>‘ most muted performances. In Altman fashion, the ostensible lead character is merely one part of a huge ensemble, as in Nashville<\/em> or Gosford Park<\/em>. I would not have expected Ray Walston or Shelley Duvall<\/a> to overpower Williams under any circumstances, especially in a kids’ movie. Speaking of the latter, Duvall absolutely nails the part of Olive Oyl, and is the best thing here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popeye<\/em> has an easy-going, laid-back slacker vibe, even during the slapstick action sequences. Fittingly for the famously mumbling, inarticulate sailor man, the story is largely visual, and non-reliant on dialog. You could turn down the volume and have essentially the same experience. Indeed, Popeye<\/em> would probably make great viewing for toddlers (or adult stoners) that vibe on The Teletubbies<\/em>, or whatever today’s equivalent is. Compare and contrast with the heavily scripted, highly verbal kids’ movies from the Pixar<\/a> and Dreamworks assembly lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder if Warren Beatty studied Altman’s Popeye<\/em>, in preparation for his own idiosyncratic comic strip adaptation, Dick Tracy<\/em>. And the giant, sprawling set (not to mention the presence of Williams) also brings to mind Steven Spielberg’s<\/a> Hook<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Altman applies his trademark style to a kids’ comic strip movie, and the results are about as strange and incongruous as you might expect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[1779,2163,293,2166,2167,2165,2164],"class_list":["post-8250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","tag-1779","tag-comic-strip","tag-comics","tag-ray-walston","tag-robert-altman","tag-robin-williams","tag-shelley-duvall"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/popeye-altman.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-294","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":787,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/iron-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":8250,"position":0},"title":"Robert Downey Jr.’s got a bum ticker in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Jon Favreau's Iron Man finds just the right tone for a superhero movie, pitched somewhere in the sweet spot between Spider-Man's emotional melodrama and Batman's grim vengeance. This blogger, a former lover of comic books (that stopped keeping up with them partly out of frugality, and partly lack of brain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Iron Man","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/iron-man-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/iron-man-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/iron-man-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/iron-man-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/iron-man-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5252,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/winnie-the-pooh-disney-christopher-robin-2018-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":8250,"position":1},"title":"Winnie-the-Pooh is a labor reformer in Disney’s Christopher Robin","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"December 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Given its sluggish pace, depressive tone, and dramatization of the origin of Paid Time Off for postwar UK laborers, whom exactly was the intended audience for Christopher Robin? 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