Kansas City (1996)

Happy Oscars Sunday! Before we all tune in to see who takes home the coveted statues, we’ve got some business to attend to. That’s right, the latest installment in our A-To-Z challenge. This week we have the letter “K” and Kansas City (1996).

Title: Kansas City

Director: Robert Altman

Released: August 16, 1996

Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes

Available to stream on: Prime Video

IMDb synopsis: A pair of kidnappings expose the complex power dynamics within the corrupt and unpredictable workings of 1930s Kansas City.

It’s Kansas City in the 1930s, the jazz scene is thriving and so is crime. We’re shown this right away as the movie starts off with Blondie O’Hara (Jennifer Jason Leigh) lying her way into a mansion where she kidnaps the wife of a powerful local Democrat, Carolyn Stilton (Miranda Richardson).

Why the kidnapping? Well, Blondie thinks that by kidnapping his wife, she can blackmail Henry Stilton (Michael Murphy) into negotiating the release of her husband. But wait, what’s going on with Blondie’s husband?

Johnny O’Hara (Dermot Mulroney) is a small-time gangster who got in over his head. Johnny decided to stick up one Sheepshan Red who just so happens to be the best customer of Seldom Seen. So, who is Seldom Seen? Well, for starters, Seldom Seen (Harry Belafonte) is not a man to cross. He runs the local jazz club, the Hey Hey Club, and is better known as the local gambling boss. Being the man that he is with the power he possesses, it doesn’t take long for Seldom to catch up to Johnny and get the money back.

So begins an intricate game of cat and mouse. Will Blondie be able to outsmart a powerful local politician and a local crime boss? Does Seldom Seen catch up to Blondie as well? Will Mrs. Stilton return home safely? Anything can happen in Kansas City…

So, full disclosure, I really wanted to like this movie. The cast is great, the premise is intriguing, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Yes, we’re in the 1930s, but that doesn’t mean Blondie has to talk like a stereotypical 30s gangster. The teeth worn by Jennifer Jason Leigh as Bonnie add insult to injury. Whenever Bonnie opened her mouth, I was slightly distracted by her teeth.

There’s a line in the film where it’s stated that, “Seldom Seen is often heard” and I couldn’t agree more. Seldom talks…a lot. Most of the time he isn’t really saying anything though, it seems he’s speaking just to speak.

At one point, we see Johnny Flynn (Steve Buscemi) paying addicts to go and vote in the election. Not just once though, multiple times, as many times as he tells them to. And that’s it. No follow up, no real backstory to Flynn, just “hey here’s a thing he’s doing” and the end. In his brief time, Buscemi is a bright spot in the film. Breathing some life into a slow-moving jazz concert.

No, I can’t just gloss over how we could have had either a tight ninety-minute movie or a more in-depth story had we not spent so much time with the jazz solos. That’s not to say that jazz didn’t have its place in this film, it absolutely did. But when you take a paint-by-numbers paper thin plot and insert multiple jazz scenes to pad the runtime, it feels awkwardly shoehorned in and takes you out of the main storyline.

Despite everything that is going to happen being spelled out for you, without any twists or turns along the way, and then taking two hours to get there, it isn’t all bad.

The set design and costumes (minus Blondie’s teeth) are terrific. I felt like I was in the 1930s and it convincingly looked like I was in the 1930s. That time period was a rough one and the lighting used throughout helped to portray the bleakness of the era.

Overall, Kansas City (1996), for me, is a mediocre film with a lot of potential.

Well, what say you? Have you seen Kansas City (1996)? If so, I want to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below or reach out to me on social media!

So, what’s next? As we continue on in the A-To-Z challenge, our next stop will be the letter “L”. Unlike some of the previous letters, we have plenty to choose from here.

Do you have a suggestion for what the entry should be? If so, get them in quickly! You’ll have until Wednesday morning. Wednesday evening, I will reveal what the movie will be, and where you can stream it, across all of my social media.