Robert Altman’s film Streamers is one of the least Robert Altmanesque Robert Altman films I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of Robert Altman films. Streamers is set in the barracks of a handful of Airborne Army officers waiting until they (like the rest of their mates) are sent off to Vietnam.
What makes this film so unlike most of Altman’s features is that it’s cast can be counted on one hand, and the film never leaves their barracks. To put it simply, this film is based on a play, and it’s damn obvious. Altman shot this like a play, and as such it’s missing much of his trademark style. It’s not a bad film, it’s actually quite good. David Alan Grier is surprisingly damn good in his acting debut.
The film touches on numerous issues from Vietnam to homosexuality to the place of Blacks in a White world.
One suggestion I might make to others, is that you don’t watch it on a sunny Sunday morning.