I have often hoped that the arts could be wonderfully useful in times of trouble. I have seen few examples of that. Nashville, however, fulfills my dream. It is a spiritual inventory of America, splendidly frank and honest.

The movie shows us a system of yearnings and rewards and punishments and physical objects which we have tacked together over the years….

Mr. Altman implies that our understanding of our curious civilization must come from ourselves. He has an actress portray a British documentary filmmaker on a visit to Nashville, fresh from Israel and darkest Africa. She confidently misinterprets all she sees. She has European brilliance and sophistication which, when applied to the city of Nashville, render her asinine. She says of a country-music star's mansion built of logs, "It's pure Bergman." And then she adds, "But of course these are the wrong people for Bergman."

And I must...