The Player

"The best movie ever made" - Griffin Mill

THE PLAYER (15)

D: Robert Altman

Guild/Avenue (David Brown, Michael Tolkin & Nick Wechsler)

US 1992

124 mins

Comedy/Thriller

W: Michael Tolkin [based on his novel]

DP: Jean Lepine

Ed: Geraldine Peroni

Mus: Thomas Newman

PD: Stephen Altman

Tim Robbins (Griffin Mill), Greta Scacchi (June Gudmondsdottir), Fred Ward (Walter Stuckel), Whoopi Goldberg (Avery), Peter Gallagher (Larry Levy), Brion James (Joel Levinson), Cynthia Stevenson (Bonnie Sherow), Vincent D'Onofrio (David Kahane), Dean Stockwell (Andy Civelia), Richard E. Grant (Tom Oakley)

A belligerent studio executive receives death threats from a screenwriter whose script he rejected, but finds it difficult to determine which one.

For a film buff, this is the ultimate black comedy, filled to the brim with wily Hollywood in-jokes, celebrity cameos and even a film within a film. It might not be appreciated by a more mainstream crowd, but those who understand filmmaking will thoroughly enjoy it, especially the ending which is a stroke of screenwriting and filmmaking genius.

9/10