Murky but the music's good

Jazz is a loose freeform style of entertainment, and that's very much been Robert Altman's take on films too. You'd think this 1930s set kidnapping drama would be the perfect vehicle for him then but it's actually criminally short of drama and more than a little listless. Leigh is raspingly irritating as the moll who kidnaps politician's wife Richardson to barter for her own husband from some gangsters. Trouble is Altman keeps cutting away to various participants in his tale when he should have just trained his cameras on the great jazz instead - the real star of this particular show.