If I were a licensed film critic (is there such a thing?), I would lose my all credibility for the following admission: I just saw "The Player" for the first time last night! Go ahead, take me off your trusted list. I do not deserve to be here. Just kill me now.
I love films that give the viewer a glimpse inside of Hollywood, and "The Player" is by far the best film I have ever seen accomplish this task. I love films that are overtly conscious of themselves - "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" comes to mind. Again, "The Player" succeeds in having more ironic and intelligent references to itself than any other film I have ever seen.
Robert Altman ("Nashville," "Short Cuts"), unquestionably one of the most brilliant directors of our day, opens the film with an eight and a half minute tracking shot (no cuts at all!) that sets up most of the characters. During this amazingly conceived and largely improvised sequence, two of the characters briefly discuss the six and a half minute opening tracking shot in Orson Wells' "Touch of Evil" that set up its characters. When they discuss this, it clicks in your mind that Altman is about to top Wells' shot. This sort of thing occurs many times in "The Player," usually not as bluntly as this first example, meaning that you have to put your thinking cap on to fully take it in.
Tim Robbins ("Shawshank Redemption," "Short Cuts," "Arlington Road") stars as Griffin Mill, a Hollywood studio executive who hears around 125 movie pitches a day. His job is to filter through all of these and pick about 12 a YEAR to turn into feature films. Needless to say, Griffin has to snub numerous writers every day, earning him enemies left and right. For some time now, Griffin has been receiving death threats through postcards, and they are really beginning to worry him. He knows that they must be from a writer, but the suspects are endless.
On the business end of his life, Griffin is facing the fact that another executive, Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher - "American Beauty," "While You Were Sleeping"), is about to join his studio. Griffin rightfully fears that Levy will steal some of his power. Griffin must learn to work with him to keep his status, but being friends with other executives is unthinkable in his business.
"The Player" does not fray from the intricacies of Griffin's and Levy's work. Pitch after pitch are thrown their way until one, titled "Habeous Corpus," really captures their attention. One of the writers wants to keep the film low-budget with no big name stars to make sure that the characters are what the audience cares about, not the actors playing them. He pleads for a sad ending that will leave the audience with tears in their eyes. The other writer throws out big names such as Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis who he thinks will be perfect for the film. He is also not so convinced about the sad ending, for he knows that mainstream audiences prefer to see their films end on positive notes.
Meanwhile, Griffin is busy carrying on relationships with two women. He has a long time girlfriend in the business, Bonnie (Cynthia Stevenson - "Happiness"), who stands out from the Hollywood crowd as actually being a fairly honest person! But a new woman, June (Greta Scacchi), a painter from Iceland who could not care less about the Industry, captivates Griffin and begins to pull him away from Bonnie. Perhaps why June is so interesting to Griffin is because she is the only person he knows whose life is not dictated by Hollywood.
There is not a single disappointing element to "The Player." Acting wise, Tim Robbins delivers a dead on, Academy Award worthy, lead performance. No weak link can be found in the entire, enormous cast. The plot is very involving, and the way that it wraps around itself and plays off of itself is unique and totally refreshing. Robert Altman's direction is not only excellent, but in some ways, notably his opening tracking shot and how he incorporates the whole movie within a movie theme, it is revolutionary.
Although it is not too scathing, "The Player" is one of the darkest and most hilarious satires on Hollywood too ever be made into a film. I am certainly not a Hollywood afficionado, (as evidenced by me just now seeing "The Player" for the first time), but the film knowledge that I do have certainly helped me catch lots of the satirical inside jokes and spot many of the impressive cameos. As you may have heard, this film probably has the most prestigious list of cameo appearances than any other film ever made. It is absolutely unbelievable how many stars fit perfectly in the film. Whether you catch many more of the cameos and inside jokes than I did, or none at all, you will still find enough aspects of "The Player" enjoyable for it to warrant at least one viewing.
10 out of 10.
Rated R for language, nudity, and brief violence
DVD Extras: Even though the DVD was released more than three years ago, there are many impressive extras available. Five interesting deleted scenes, which include funny cameos by Patrick Swayze and Jeff Daniels, are included and discussed in length by Altman in his Featurette. Also included is a commentary track by Altman and writer Michael Tolkin. I have not yet listened to the commentary, but I do not doubt for a second that it is well worthwhile. Additionally, cast bios are included for all the main stars as well as about 50 of the cameo players!
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