Robert Altman's THE PLAYER is a comic murder mystery set within the confines of Hollywood itself. The main character, played with skill by Tim Robbins, is a slimy studio executive who spends his days either greenlighting or turning down various scripts proposed to him by writers. When he starts to receive threatening postcards from somebody he's turned down, he takes matters into his own hands...with drastic consequences.
The main emphasis of THE PLAYER is on its self-referencing, some four years before SCREAM came out and became the popular post-modern film satire. THE PLAYER's achievements are more subtle, and the humour is more character focused, but anyone with any interest in Hollywood and its history whatsoever will be in their element here. There's a realistic, chaotic feel to the storyline, where characters go off the rails but are nonetheless constrained by a tightly-ruled empire.
It's hard to mention THE PLAYER without mentioning the endless star cameos. They're plentiful and constant, and you could watch the film on mute just for the faces: Angelica Huston, Cher, Peter Falk, Susan Sarandon, the list is endless. Somebody asked me the other day which film has the most cameos in it and I think this would have to be the one. The ending, with a special pair of celebrity cameos, is absolutely hilarious and a real high point of the movie for me.
The main emphasis of THE PLAYER is on its self-referencing, some four years before SCREAM came out and became the popular post-modern film satire. THE PLAYER's achievements are more subtle, and the humour is more character focused, but anyone with any interest in Hollywood and its history whatsoever will be in their element here. There's a realistic, chaotic feel to the storyline, where characters go off the rails but are nonetheless constrained by a tightly-ruled empire.
It's hard to mention THE PLAYER without mentioning the endless star cameos. They're plentiful and constant, and you could watch the film on mute just for the faces: Angelica Huston, Cher, Peter Falk, Susan Sarandon, the list is endless. Somebody asked me the other day which film has the most cameos in it and I think this would have to be the one. The ending, with a special pair of celebrity cameos, is absolutely hilarious and a real high point of the movie for me.