A Robert Altman film is an experiment in audacity. Nashville is about American success—its costs, humiliations, and incredible spirit. Despite some failures in its storytelling, its ambience is tremendous. Altman has used the Mecca of country music to place his episodic film, and he shows what Americans have assumed as their values. In doing so he has created a movie that is provocative, comic, and gaudily melodramatic….

What is so exciting about Altman's movie-making is its many levels. Altman is one of the very few directors whose work deserves more than one experiencing. Mere viewing is not sufficient; in an Altman film, sound is supremely important. He has frustrated audiences previously by having several conversations going on at once. Altman is trying to smash out of the confines of cinematic conventions. (p. 6)

One has to mine an Altman film for its insights; but they truly are there...