Brewster McCloud

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with the MGM logo, as usual, but with the voice of Rene Auberjonois saying, "I forgot the opening line," replacing the lion roar and proceeds with The Lecturer (Auberjonois) regaling his unseen students with a wealth of knowledge of the habits of birds. Owlish Brewster (Bud Cort), living hidden and alone under the Houston Astrodome, dreams of creating wings that will help him fly like a bird. His only assistance comes from Louise (Sally Kellerman), a beautiful woman who wants to help. Wearing only a trench coat, Louise has unexplained scars on her shoulder blades, suggestive of a fallen angel. She warns him against having sexual intercourse, as this could kill his instinct to fly.
While Brewster works to complete his wings and condition himself for flight, Houston suffers a string of unexplained murders, the work of a serial killer whose victims are found strangled and covered in bird droppings. Haskell Weeks (William Windom) a prominent figure in Houston, pulls strings to have the Houston Police call "San Francisco super cop" Frank Shaft (Michael Murphy) to investigate. Shaft immediately fixates on the bird droppings and soon finds a link to Brewster. Brewster eludes the police with the apparent help of Louise but he eventually drives her away—and dooms himself—when he ignores her advice about sex by hooking up with Astrodome usher Suzanne (Shelley Duvall). Suzanne saves Brewster by out-driving Shaft in her Plymouth Road Runner. Severely injured after losing Brewster, Shaft kills himself. Despite her sweetness, Suzanne will not give up her comfortable home to fly with Brewster. Sensing something very wrong with Brewster, Suzanne betrays him to the police.
In the climactic scene, a small army of policemen enter the Astrodome but fail to nab Brewster before he takes flight using his completed wings. Although Brewster escapes the police, he cannot escape the human being's inherent unsuitability for flight. Exhausted by the effort, he falls out of the air, crashing in a heap on the floor of the Astrodome. The film ends with a Circus entering the Astrodome, played by the cast of the film, costumed as clowns, strongmen and other circus performers. The Ringmaster (played by William Windom) announces the names of each cast member, finishing with Brewster, who remains crumpled on the floor.

Tags: comedy, murder, cult, flashback, absurd, psychedelic

Review:
The dream of achieving flight is a metaphor in this film for man's incessant but futile wish to be free.If you have no interest in these plot or thematic elements, Brewster McCloud is still worth watching just because of its bizarre humor, recurring jokes, and odd characters.
I own a copy on VHS and had the pleasure of seeing it 4 times at the Film Forum in New York City a couple of years ago.After having seen Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H," his next film about the story of a young man who is building a winged contraption in the basement of the Houston Astrodome intrigued me.
I had to see how the cast came together in their varied segments in this film and I wasn't too disappointed.Robert Altman saw something in Bud Cort after seeing him in a NYC comedy revue, and then gave him a role in "M*A*S*H*, and was so impressed with him in the scenes he had in that film that he gave him is first leading film role.
Brewster doesn't say much in the film, but after a certain door is opened in his life, he becomes very talkative, and that talkativeness leads to a situation that jeopardizes his flight plans.I thought the opening with Margaret Hamilton was funny, as well as the scenes Bud Cort had with Stacy Keach, made up as old man Abraham Wright, Brewster's former racist and mean-spirited employer.I loved Sally Kellerman as Brewster's enigmatic and protective mother-figure, Louise, and Michael Murphy as the 'Bullit-esque' Frank Shaft, in Houston, via San Francisco, to help the police solve some suspicious bird-related murders.The rest of the cast is fine, with the Altman touch of fine ensemble acting from the likes of John Schuck, G.
Some may find that as a bit of a turn-off, but then that's what a cult classic film is really about, isn't it?Brewster McCloud is a reclusive boy who lives in the basement of the Houston Astrodome.
There are three basic stories in the movie: (1) Brewster McCloud's coming-of-age story, (2) the parallel metaphor of Brewster McCloud's dream of flying away from worldly sorrow, and (3) the murders of people who mistreat Brewster and who all die with raven droppings on their faces.The real irony of this film is how the character of the Lecturer keeps pointing out similarities between the characters and certain birds, and yet the ending comes around, and we learn how unlike birds we are.
His film "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" came out in '72, that is after Brewster McCloud, and if you've seen both films, it is not a stretch at all to surmise that it may well have been Buñuel who was influenced by Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud (which after all came out two years before Buñuel's film.) And as in Buñuel's film, the surrealism in Brewster McCloud certainly has a humorous aspect, but is at its heart a vehicle for subversive but oblique social commentary: oblique because this movie in its ultra-hip cool sensibility would feel obliged to start mocking itself if it actually started preaching to anyone.
And as I indicated it is somehow, above all of this, a film about an actual real place -Houston Texas - and it has plenty of elements that would undeniably appeal to a lot of real good old boys from Texas - things like great sounding cars like Camaro Z28's and Roadrunners and car chases.It is without question in the top five of Robert Altman's films and I never heard about it till last night.
BIll Hader from Saturday Night Live was a guest on Turner Classic Movies and Brewster McCloud was one of four films he had selected as personal favorites of his that were shown.
I had never seen all of Rashomon before either - its overrated.) But that old guy who is the standard host on TCM seemed mystified or something by Hader's choice of Brewster McCloud, but regardless, its a really, really memorable film..
Brewster McCloud is a delightful early comic `trip' of one of the best living American directors  Robert Altman.
It was made the same year as Altman's masterpiece MASH and got somehow overshadowed by it and probably deservedly so, though Brewster McCloud undoubtedly is one of the most `lunatic' or weird, but at the same time most original Altman's films.
The film's story is centred on a very peculiar young boy Brewster McCloud (Bud Cort) who lives in a fallout shelter of a Huston's Astrodome and whose main passion in life are birds, an obsession that came so far that Brewster dedicates most of his time to developing of wings that will allow him to fly like a bird.
He's a very strange young man who lives in the Houston Astrodome and is building a huge set of wings so he can fly.
The film isn't perfect--it's too long, the weirdness wears you down at times, some of the humor is real sick and there are characters that are just disgusting (Stacy Keach) or too flat out weird, even for this movie (Jennifer Salt)!
In many ways Robert Altman except for his hands off approach to his actors has created many films that are at the equal to Fredrico Fellini in satire and whimsically profound sequences that baffle the audience -= but ain't it nice to home from a movie and remember it because you just can't get the ideas and images out of your head.
What is the connection with the horny young girl (Shelly Duvall, in her first movie role - I believe she was discovered by Altman when he attended a party at her house during the location shoot in Houston) who comes to visit Brewster but can't ever really get his attention?A wonderful, under-rated film worth seeing..
It has gallons of peanut butter, hundreds of pull-ups, bird-poop, a BEAUTIFUL Shelley Duvall, Bud Cort, great film editing, lots of imagination, tons of style, smack-in-the-face symbolism, and the best closing credits sequence ever!
This was the part Bud Cort was born for, not Harold and Maude (another wonderful black comedy), Stacy Keach is unbelievably TOO real as Mr. Wright (at the age of 28), Sally Kellerman as Brewster's mentor is graceful and anguished, Jennifer Salt is the all-American girlfriend (just like she was in Midnight Cowboy), Michael Murphy was born to play Frank Shaft, Bert Remsen steals the show as the narc-agent, and it goes on and on as a SPOOF about a lot of American things that nobody used to lose their mind about (politically and otherwise).This flick is an easy 8 out of 10, with gems that keep popping up, for fun.
Admirably odd, though mean-spirited comedy-drama about a strange young man who hopes to fly like a bird through the Houston Astrodome.
Some of the cinematography is evocative, Shelley Duvall is a stitch in her debut as a tour guide, and Sally Kellerman looks every inch the glamourpuss as Bud Cort's vision of a "mother bird" (imagine Altman and producer Lou Adler explaining that role to her!).
Brewster (Bud Cort, from Harold and Maude) lives under the Astrodome, and just wants to fly.
While this film makes virtually no sense at all on a literal level, Brewster McCloud is a fairly inventive, wholly original, gigantic misfire from acclaimed director Robert Altman.
I also liked the formidable acting talents of Stacy Keach in a bizarre, hilarious role as a rich moneylender, Margaret Hamilton in an all too brief role(though Altman DOES cash in on her Wizard of Oz fame), Michael Murphy as a policeman, John Schuck as a beat cop, William Windom as some creepy political guy, and the beautiful talents of Sally Kellerman and Shelley Duvall.
Bud Cort (Harold and Maude) is delightful, and the supporting cast (many of whom are Altman regulars) is great......I think that people with little or no sense of humor will not like this movie, but those raised in the post-South Park era will enjoy its wonderful portrayal of neurotic characters...as only Altman can deliver 'em..
I couldn't possibly do it justice.So a couple things here if you'll indulge me.Growing up in Houston, Texas at the time this movie was made inherently makes the use of The Astrodome and adjacent AstroWorld as primary settings even more dear among the treasured memories of my childhood, especially now that they are each defunct.And the ending.
Brewster Mccloud : There is no doubt about it being a different type of a "Robert Altman" film..
It can be surmised that keeping these facts in mind,American director Robert Altman chose to make a film which revealed man's hidden desire to fly like a bird."Brewster Mccloud" is also a pure entertainer as it addresses a serious issue in a very light manner.Robert Altman's film bears testimony to the fact that birds need to be respected as well as protected from selfish humans.Apart from birds in all shapes and sizes,this film concerns a young boy who would avoid many young women whom he considers obstacles in his path leading to a journey high up in the skies.Funny cops are not a rarity but "Brewster Mccloud" has cast some funny actors as inept cops who adopt funny methods to find out more about murders taking place near them.Lastly,it is not only ornithologists but also bird watchers who would turn out to be this film's loyal audiences..
It is funny; weird; has a terrific cast; and is one of my favorite Robert Altman films.
Some mysterious woman played by Sally Kellerman is, I think, killing people that seem to end up really pestering Brewster, which include a craggy Mr. Burns figure (Stacy Keach, hilariously one-note), a narc, and a random dude with a chain.
I'd guess she's the killer- there's a whole sub-plot, by the way, with a police investigation headed by Shaft (no, not talking about that one, Michael Murphy plays him here, that's right), who's more interested in the bird dung that keeps showing up on the deceased instead of regular police work.Meanwhile, Jennifer Salt gets off on the vibes of a half-nude Brewster doing chin-ups, Shelly Duvall with over-extended eye-lashes falls for Brewster one moment and then rats on him the next, and then there's still Kellerman doing her thing thwarting off, and...did I mention there's a professor/narrator who seems like a mental patient with a lot of facts about fowl?
So much of this is hard to take, and towards the end it becomes very frustrating trying to put *any* sense to it (how is Duvall so good at evading the police, how is that one cop such a buffoon to read Captain America while on a stake-out, why does Jennifer Salt keep popping up and giving Brewster food/orgasms, and how much symbolic "ah, I'm a blonde angel" can we take from Kellerman?) But then again, why bother?
Altman is after the sly humor of the quirky as opposed to real common sense, and it's in his dedication and intelligence in following through with these characters, no matter how strange or subtle or inexplicably charming or demented they are, that makes the film work up to the point that it does.And despite a sort of unsatisfying last twenty minutes with Brewster and some of the supporting characters (the whole sex angle is a little weak and too dated for me to buy), there's some experimentation for the director that would probably not come again.
Brewster McCloud is a funny bird, no pun intended, of a early 70s obscurity, a film that likely got a hundredth of the public attention that MASH got, but is probably just as strong in what it wants to deliver to its eclectic audience (albeit, personally, I think MASH is maybe Altman's most overrated).
What fun for the actors to play such over-the-top characters, especially Jennifer Salt, Michael Murphy and Stacy Keach as well as the very weird professor that Rene Auberjoinois played, who became progressively more bird-like as the film cut to each of his bird lectures.
Altman cast Cort, Murphy, Auberjoinois, Sally Kellerman and Shelley Duvall in other films.
So by all means, if you love Altman, watch Brewster McCloud and be stunned by the tragicomic ending!.
As I liked Altman (for me one of the most iconoclastic american directors),I chose this movie  because I knew nothing about it.And the surprise was great:this movie is full of fantasy,and the character of Brewster is really original because he's as intelligent as he's innocent.I also  don't know any other movie that made me dream and escape like this,with its kind of magic.But on the other side,I think the car pursuit and all the bird shits weren't necessary.And Altman could have done less evocations about sex,they waste the movie:I'm ok that Brewster discovers girls but not sex.But I've liked that humans and birds are compared and above all the philosophical end about Icarus's dream to fly.Finally a very original movie which has as many qualities as defects .....
Altman, as the non-conventional director he is, likes that, but this is different from his other films (NASHVILLE, SHORT CUTS).
With a marvelously written screenplay and a terrific cast(HAROLD AND MAUDE's Bud Cort, M*A*S*H's Sally Kellerman, NASHVILLE's Shelley Duvall, MAGNOLIA's Michael Murphy, among others), BREWSTER MCCLOUD becomes more and more surprising from scene to scene.As I said, this film shouldn't be forgotten as it is.
Altman refers to Bullitt (1969) by including a character named Frank Shaft, who is a detective from San Francisco." The name may have inspired the name of Richard Roundtree's "John Shaft" character, in a more subtle parody from 1971 ("he just took my man Leroy and threw him out the God damn window")."Homages to The Wizard of Oz (1939) have been noted in the film, as Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West, is the music conductor seen during the opening credits.
At the end of the film, she is shown in the cast as Dorothy carrying Toto." Shelley Duvall plays a Raggedy Ann airhead character (without Luna Lovegood's redeeming qualities) and actually appears as a Raggedy Ann clown in the final scene."Brewster McCloud" is a film that presents society as circus performers and life as a circus, if you haven't figured that out by the end Altman hits you over the head with it as he goes out with perhaps the best black comedy ending of all time.
To follow up "MASH", Robert Altman made this quirky gem about a young man (Bud Cort) living in Houston's Astrodome, who is obsessed with flying to the point that he's building a set of wings.
Rene Auberjonois plays the narrator, who gets more and more birdlike as the movie progresses.I actually have a connection to "Brewster McCloud": when they were filming it, my mom and her sister went to audition for a part, but the line was too long, so they decided not to (the role eventually went to Shelley Duvall).
"Brewster McCloud" was director Robert Altman's follow-up to his enormously successful "M*A*S*H" (1970).
And it hasn't dated well either.The parody car-chase toward the film's end is not nearly as humorous as it was in 1970; and Michael Murphy, as a "hip" police detective exclaiming "Jesus Christ!" every two lines, is not exactly satire; it's just silly--like the movie's story-line: Bird-Mother (Sally Kellerman) takes Bird-Boy (Bud Cort) under her wing, while he trains himself to fly with a pair of mechanical wings.
Although the story is basically about a young man (Bud Cort) who wants to fly like a bird, his goal of doing it is undercut by the wacky friends he has and meets, the goofy people he works for in order to pay for the project of wings for humans, and a very strange murder case going around in Houston in which the victims have bird guano in their eyes (Altman has an obsession for animal poo, remember its presence in Ready To Wear?) Everything is here: sex, pure camp, car chases, and utter lunacy.
But when a film is trying to be so different that it just becomes silly, well, like I said above, you just have to know when to stop.Altman ends with what seems to be an ode to Fellini's 8 1/2.
Robert Altman directs "Brewster McCloud".
Bud Cort, of "Harold and Maude" fame, plays an eccentric young man desperate to grow wings like a bird, being stalked by the sultry Sally Kellerman (barely saying a word) and all of a sudden involved with the zany Shelley Duvall as evil people all over Houston are mysteriously killed after getting a faceful of bird doo doo.
I love the concept that Brewster wants to fly, so that he can free himself of his fallen-angel protector (Sally Kellerman), the murders, and everyone else that gets in his way.
Brewster McCloud (1970), set in Houston in the late 1960s, is a Robert Altman comedy.
It is the story of Sally Kellerman teaching Bud Cort how to fly in the Houston Astrodome.
If ever there was a love it or hate it film, this is it."Brewster McCloud" is a glorious mess, an imperfect film in that fascinatingly imperfect way that only Robert Altman could pull off.
I was completely befuddled by it the first time I watched it, but then after I'd seen it three or four times, trying to make sense of it in order to talk to the class about it, I sort of fell in love with it.Brewster, played perfectly by Bud Cort, lives in the Houston Astrodome and harbors the intense desire to fly.
Meanwhile, a sort of guardian angel (Sally Kellerman) with scars on her back where wings used to be follows Brewster around and may just be responsible for the murders taking place around the city (every corpse the cops find is splattered with bird crap).