Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Bookish virgin Brewster lives in the fallout shelter of the Houston Astrodome and dreams of flying one day with the mechanical wings of his own creation. Every time he leaves his sanctuary he's affronted by some manner of uptight goon who seeks to hinder Brewster for one reason or another. These antagonists all end up dead and covered in bird poop -- is it Brewster? His guardian angel (with two scars where wings would've been) Abraham? Does it matter? Not really.Like most great art films, this will take some reading and reflection to truly get the most out of. The theme is freedom, obviously, and how our attachments and desires and fears keep us from reaching it. Brewster is told he needs to stay a virgin or he won't be able to fly, but in typical human fashion, temptation takes over as he falls for the beautiful Suzanne in Shelley Duvall's first role as an actress. The bulbous-shaped Astrodome is a metaphor for the birdcage in which Brewster lives. The ending is tragic and even silly and absurd at the same time. It is a strange, funny and poignant movie, and probably Altman's best.

Brewster McCloud (1970), set in Houston in the late 1960s, is a Robert Altman comedy. One reference source describes it as a quirky comedy, which may be the best adjective to attach. The movie is about birds, and things bird-like, in three ways: First, Rene Auberjonois appears intermittently as a gawking professor of ornithology, to lecture the audience on matters avian. As the film progresses, he comes more and more to resemble his subject. Second, Bud Cort lives surreptitiously in a cubbyhole of the Astrodome, where he has fashioned a set of wings and is attempting to learn to fly, as in human-powered flight in something of a throwback to before the Wright brothers. Third, there occurs in Houston an inexplicable series of deaths, possibly murders. A common element is that the deceased are found with....well, let's stop there, tiptoeing toward the edge without risking falling off the cliff into a spoiler.Sally Kellerman plays a quasi-angelic character who watches over Cort's welfare. We have also the young Shelley Duvall, ten years before her appearance as Jack Nicholson's wife in The Shining (1980), in the role of an Astrodome tour guide. Michael Murphy plays the San Francisco detective who is summoned to Texas to investigate what is going on. His big decision each morning is to decide on the color de jour for his trademark gun holster and matching turtleneck.As was said, quirky.

A strange youth wants nothing more than to take wing in the Astrodome. He is hampered by a host of eccentric, weird characters that are avenged by his "real" guardian angel and her raven. 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. Altman even said that of all his pictures this was his favorite. Why? I have to assume it is partly due to his complete control of the film. That, unfortunately, does not necessarily make for a good or even great film, and while I admire much of the inventiveness of this film - I do not crave to see the film over and over again. It made me laugh a few times, but subsequent viewings would lessen that laughter. Altman has a unique body of work to absorb, but he has never been one of my favorite directors. His stories always seem to blend to the point of mild confusion. His characters seem to be so unique as to be unrealistic. Brewster McCloud has all that. I rather enjoyed the narration by Rene Auberjonois as he intimated each character being akin to some species of bird. 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 has a strange, almost fascinating screen presence. He also knows a bit about acting. Yet, with all this obvious talent in acting, directing, writing, etc..., Brewster McCloud for me was just too unique, too eccentric, too avant-garde if you like(or don't). It is Altman's movie all the way, and I resolutely commend him for making it his way and doing it his way, and being the only moving force - the will - of the film. Again, none of those things necessarily make this a great film.

this is both the oddest film i've ever seen, and one of my all time favourites. after a few watches this movie emerges as one of those films you love to analyse and dissect over and over. with it's hidden metaphors and subtle in-jokes, it makes for an exciting piece of work for general film fans and film buffs alike. i'm a huge bud cort fan, and this is one of the films i can't take my eyes off of him in, and not just because i have a major crush on him, but because as always his performance is so enjoyable. he makes brewster, a theoretically dark and slightly frightening character strangely mesmerising and lovable. the best jokes in the film are the ones you'll miss if you blink. its worth watching at least twice to notice things you might not have the first time round. i can't recommend this film highly enough, its absurd, idealistic and beautiful.