Reviewer's Rating 4 out of 5 听 User Rating 4 out of 5
The Player (1992)
15

12 years after the critical and commercial disaster of "Popeye", maverick director Robert Altman made a stunning return to form with this acerbic Hollywood satire.

Only a film maker of Altman's stature could have persuaded Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, and Cher - among many other famous faces - to make cameo appearances for next to nothing. But while it's fun to spot the likes of John Cusack, Jack Lemmon, and Peter Falk, "The Player" is far more than a showbiz parlour game.

Tim Robbins ("Bob Roberts", "Bull Durham") plays Griffin Mill, a high-flying studio exec whose complacency is shaken when he receives a series of threatening postcards from a writer he's slighted.

Tracking down the man who he thinks is responsible, Griffin ends up killing him. With the police snapping at his heels, he begins an ill-advised romance with the dead man's girlfriend (Greta Scacchi). Meanwhile, back on the lot, his job is threatened by an ambitious rival executive (Peter Gallagher).

From the eight-minute tracking shot that opens the picture to the film-within-a-film that ends it, "The Player" marked a triumphant comeback for the director of "Nashville" and "M*A*S*H". Though some of the comedy is a little forced (especially Whoopi Goldberg's grating turn as a tampon-wielding detective), it's a masterly distillation of Tinseltown foibles which also works as a compelling moral thriller and a commentary on the cult of celebrity.

With the exception of "Short Cuts", Altman's subsequent films have yet to equal this one. But knowing him, he's bound to keep trying.

End Credits

Director: Robert Altman

Writer: Michael Tolkin

Stars: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Vincent D'Onofrio

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Length: 124 minutes

Cinema: 1992

Country: USA

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