Plot
Dr. Ralph Wyman (Matthew Modine) and his wife, Marian (Julianne Moore), meet another couple, Stuart and Claire Kane (Fred Ward and Anne Archer) at a concert and make a spontaneous Sunday dinner date, but both marriages show their cracks over the weekend. While Ralph and Marian Wyman avoid a taboo topic that is undermining their marriage, Stuart goes on a fishing trip with some buddies (Buck Henry and Huey Lewis) and they discover a dead body in the water. Upon his return, Claire is horrified to discover that Stuart and his buddies left the girl in the water until the end of the weekend so they could continue fishing.
Meanwhile, waitress Doreen Piggot (Lily Tomlin), whose husband Earl (Tom Waits) is a verbally abusive alcoholic, accidentally hits young Casey Finnigan (Zane Cassidy) with her car. When the little boy walks away from the accident, she assumes he is all right, but never learns of the fatal consequences, or the harassment his parents, Howard (Bruce Davison) and Ann Finnigan (Andie MacDowell), must face from the local baker (Lyle Lovett) who is livid because Casey's birthday cake was never picked up. Howard's estranged father, Paul Finnigan (Jack Lemmon) drops by the hospital after a 20-year absence and relates the story of his own infidelity. Doreen's daughter, Honey (Lili Taylor), is married to Bill Bush (Robert Downey, Jr.), a man aroused by sadism. Their party buddies, Lois (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Jerry Kaiser (Chris Penn), face marital problems of their own, as Lois earns her living as a phone-sex operator, leaving Jerry (a pool cleaner who has the Finnigans as clients) with a wife whose attitude toward sex is indifferent at best.
Gene Shepard (Tim Robbins) is a corrupt cop who cheats on his wife, Sherri (Madeleine Stowe), and seems oblivious to the fact that his wife long ago had discovered his secret—and just does not care. Gene's mistress is realtor Betty Weathers (Frances McDormand), and Sherri's ultimate confidante is Marian, her sister.
These stories are woven together with musical bridges performed by Zoe (Lori Singer), a depressed cellist, and her embittered, jazz singer mother, Tess (Annie Ross), who live next to the Finnigans.
Read more about this topic: Short Cuts
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““The plot thickens,” he said, as I entered.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
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The careful Devil is still at hand with means;
And providently Pimps for ill desires:
The Good Old Cause, reviv’d, a Plot requires,
Plots, true or false, are necessary things,
To raise up Common-wealths and ruine Kings.”
—John Dryden (1631–1700)
“Ends in themselves, my letters plot no change;
They carry nothing dutiable; they won’t
Aspire, astound, establish or estrange.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)