The Player

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Kevin L Ya gotta stick with "The Player". I can see a lot of viewers finding the movie tedious after an hour or so; esp. since the postcards, faxes, and the like w/ all the threatening menace don't lead to uch more more than growing worry and stress for Tim Robbin's Griffin. Who's sending them? What does he/she know? But there's a lot Altman has to say, largely about the realities of the studio system, scheezy producers, and the dearth of open minds to directors/writers such as himself. Droves of cameos and smaller roles here, along with the layers of the story, but it all adds to the concentration on 'Hollywood' and American audiences' sensibilities at the cinema. Robbins is top notch in one of his best performances. Also great are Sacchi, Grant, Ward, Stevenson, and Gallagher. There's as nice brief but essential scene w/ a young Vincent D'Onofrio as well. But the payoff in the end makes the time sitting w/ the movie for two hours well worth it. Very clever story telling by Altman; and of course stand out dialogue. 4 stars Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/21/25 Full Review Fredrik P Amazing to watch and the ending is just so good and one gets the point. But one can only watch it ones. A great concept. But had hoped more. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/21/25 Full Review Nelson M From some of the reviews here it appears that a lot of people didn't get this film at all. It truly is a rare original idea. It's a parody within a parody of the movie industry and how it manipulates the public. The stock formulas, the phoniness, the lack of integrity and it's all wrapped up in a sense of self importance. And in the end...well...explaining that would be a spoiler. Let's just say the message becomes staggeringly apparent -- if you've been paying attention. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/21/25 Full Review Jonathan K Weird tone. I kept wondering if that’s just because it’s from the early '90s, when movies had a different energy. It’s entertaining, but I couldn’t tell what kind of movie it wanted to be, or even who I was supposed to root for. It always felt like something big was about to drop -- a twist, a reveal, anything -- and then… nothing. Just sort of grinds to a halt. Or maybe I missed something. That said, the Hollywood satire is solid. It pokes fun at itself in a way that’s self-aware without being annoying, and the meta-ness adds a nice layer. I sorta get why people like it — it’s a fun one to talk about, or to recall random scenes from out of nowhere. But as a straight-up viewing experience it's less than the sum of its parts. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/13/25 Full Review john h The Player is a great Altman film for non-Altman fans or even people who can't stand the boundaries he pushes in his film. The film smartly folds in the end, preventing it from becoming a Hollywood thriller where the hero has to put an end to the antagonist. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/05/25 Full Review Mason M The Player was a really great film. I'm not the most knowledgeable of Robert Altman's films, but this one made me want to see more of them. This film was a very smart industry satire that always kept me surprised. Tim Robbins did a great job in this film as always. And Altman is really good with the camera, I'm not just talking about the opening scene, the whole film was beautifully shot. But I do have one criticism about the film, it seems a bit too smart for its own good. I didn't really like how it was a satire of itself. If the point of the film in the end is how movies like it are dumb, that really cheapens the whole viewing experience for me. But other than that, it was a very entertaining that I really enjoyed and was really well done for most of the way through. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/27/25 Full Review Read all reviews

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