The Player (1992)

Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Peter Gallagher, Cynthia Stevenson, Whoopi Goldberg, Brion James, Richard E. Grant, Dean Stockwell, Vincent D’Onofrio, Angela Hall, Sydney Pollack, Lyle Lovett, Dina Merrill. [R]

Sharp, cynical black comedy about a movie exec (Robbins) who’s getting vague death threats from a disgruntled writer and ends up taking matters into his own hands. All-but-exiled from the scene in the 80s, who else but Robert Altman would be more fitting to mount his comeback in this way, using Michael Tolkin’s compelling adaptation of his own novel of the same name to excoriate film studios and their self-serving ways? Actually, as a satire, it’s not as scathing as it could have been, but even when it goes a little too “inside Hollywood,” it can still be appreciated as a sardonic character piece and irreverent thriller. Presents the sort of wheeler-and-dealer world where offices are decorated with posters of films like Laura and M, characters gush about The Bicycle Thief and Touch of Evil, yet they’re only interested in producing films that can be described in a few buzzword-heavy sentences and easily marketed. Opens with an impressive seven-plus minute tracking shot…which shows two people talking about impressive tracking shots in other movies. As would be expected from a movie like this, a bevy of famous faces show up in unscripted cameos.

89/100