McCabe & Mrs. Miller

McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

  • 89% of critics liked it
    (36 reviews)

  • 85% of users liked it
    (7,772 ratings)

Memorably described by Pauline Kael as "a beautiful pipe dream of a movie," Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller reimagines the American West as a muddy frontier filled with hustlers, opportunists, and corporate sharks -- a turn-of-the-century model for a 1971 America mired in violence and lies.… More

R, 2 hr.
Directed By
Robert Altman
Written By
Edmund Naughton, Robert Altman, Brian McKay
Genres
Western, Drama, Classics
In Theaters
Jun 24, 1971 Limited
On DVD
Jun 4, 2002
Warner Bros. Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    A period story about a small northwest mountain village where stars Warren Beatty and Julie Christie run the bordello, the production suffers from overlength; also a serious effort at moody photography which backfires into pretentiousness.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    Still Robert Altman's best moment, this 1971 antiwestern murmurs softly of love, death, and capitalism.

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    I don't automatically object to contemporary allusions, but I prefer to find them myself, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller is so busy pointing them out to us that the effect is to undercut its narrative drive and the dignity of its fiction.

  • Charles Taylor, Salon.com

    The movie haunts you like a ballad whose tune you remember but whose words hang just beyond reach. And like listening to a ballad, we know the outcome of the events we're watching was foretold long ago, but we're helpless to do anything but surrender.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    Robert Altman has made a dozen films that can be called great in one way or another, but one of them is perfect, and that one is McCabe & Mrs. Miller.

Read all 19 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Chris W


    Set during the turn of the century in the Pacific Northwest in the small mining town of Presbyterian CHurch, this is the story of an enigmatic gambler and rumored gunfighter named John McCabe who shows up in town with the plan of creating civic progress and economic gain by running a… More

  • Graham J


    Altman's take on the "western" genre is a classic. With great performances and a soundtrack featuring the songs of Leonard Cohen.

  • Steven C


    I am all for genre revisions and Robert Altman's impressive "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" sits at the top of the list. One of the most interesting westerns ever conceived, both thematically and visually, "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" depicts a truly American story… More

  • Dan S


    An original, masterfully constructed anti-Western by the great Robert Altman concerning a "businessman" (Warren Beatty) and his relationship with a sharp, unique prostitute (Julie Christie) and how he overlooks a small, Northwest town. I say this a lot, but this is one of… More

  • Tim S


    I'm on the fence about this one. Interesting visually, but storywise, not that interesting.

Read all 17 featured audience ratings

Cast

See full cast

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