While Altman would go to make worse films-Ready to Wear, Quintet come to mind-this was one of Altman's misfires. The film has it moments and features. Newman is quite good in the title role. The final sequence when Buffalo Bill has lost his mind is the most compelling part of the film because of Newman. Likewise the overall look and vibe of the film is the antiqued, subdued squalor that Altman used to greater effect in McCabe & Mrs. Miller. And the film is filled out with colorful side characters-Annie Oakley is especially daft and fun.
But ultimately the film does not work because a the tonal dissonance in its two central revisions to the Western genre. On the one hand the film wants us to see Buffalo Bill as an amoral huckster and the film fits comfortably as a light satire about show business. On the other the film stresses the deprivation and genocide of First People (this is the history lesson of the title) which is somber. The film's uneasy marriage of these concerns draws out its length to little effect and ultimately makes the film feel bifurcated.
But ultimately the film does not work because a the tonal dissonance in its two central revisions to the Western genre. On the one hand the film wants us to see Buffalo Bill as an amoral huckster and the film fits comfortably as a light satire about show business. On the other the film stresses the deprivation and genocide of First People (this is the history lesson of the title) which is somber. The film's uneasy marriage of these concerns draws out its length to little effect and ultimately makes the film feel bifurcated.