The Player embodies the film snob mentality, in both plot and tone, that Hollywood doesn’t make good movies anymore; that the great commercialism idol of box office receipts has dulled any sharp minds in the entertainment industry to favor happy endings and star power over artistic integrity and genuine emotional connection. Yet, it’s not a mentality relegated solely to film snobs is it? The Player suggests that even people neck-deep in the industry tire of formulaic films identical to all others save for the combination of stars used and exactly which happy ending is delivered. But if it’s not broke (i.e. still profitable), why fix it? Just play along instead.
Robert Altman opens up a window into a fictional movie studio which receives hundreds of thousands of script submissions every year, but only has the time and capital to make 12 of them into movies. Their corporate slogan of “Movies! Now more than ever!” has all the ambiguity and emptiness that comes with an entertainment industry convinced of its own title as the king of escapism, something needed now and forever. The environment created by the paired mentality of exclusivity and timeless necessity is one of backbiting politics favoring movers and shakers who can make quick deals with the right people at just the right time. At one point, Griffin Bell (Tim Robbins) had a reputation for being one such man, though lately his influence has waned and he finds himself passed over for the big promotion in favor of a younger, slicker executive (Peter Gallagher) with big ideas. With his fate at the studio uncertain, his professional woes only increase with each day’s mail, which always includes a postcard from a writer he slighted in the past by never responding with feedback for a script. Griffin finally decides to attempt to stop the written harassment and tracks down the writer he thinks responsible (Vincent D’Onofrio) only to have the experience end violently and him running away from a corpse. Now he’s being investigated for murder, a case further complicated by his romantic involvement with the deceased’s girlfriend. All of this blends with the incessant boardroom chatter of executives making decisions that while meaningful within their own industry, could be seen as entirely trivial when measured against something like a murder charge.
Altman mastered the creation of films that satirized their topics, and with The Player the satire simmers with a dark sense of irony, which it unleashes with a kick in the final minutes of the film; here’s a director who clearly still views filmmaking as an art form more than a business, but he inevitably ran into the types portrayed in The Player and so his lampoon’s aim is true. It has its fair share of winks to film connoisseurs ranging from long tracking shots through a film studio where conversations about directors who only use choppy editing take place to the use of iconic shots from visually striking films like A Clockwork Orange to give us a feel for what Griffin Bell has become in the film’s process.
Performances are solid all around, with Robbins giving one of his better, more understated performances as a man whose emotions become increasingly inert as a result of his evolving business sense. Whoopi Goldberg plays the detective investigating the murder and represents but the first in the film’s long line of recognizable faces including Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Fred Ward, Greta Scacchi, Brion James, Sydney Pollack, Lyle Lovett, Jeremy Piven, Gina Gershon, John Cusack, Karen Black, Harry Belafonte, Cher, Peter Falk, Robert Carradine, Jeff Goldblum, Elliott Gould – it goes on forever. It seems everyone wanted to help Altman make his dark tribute to showbiz.
The downside of the release of The Player on Blu-ray is that it’s a direct port with nothing new added as an incentive to upgrade. Even the upscaling of a hi-def connection isn’t noticeable enough to make Blu-ray a worthwhile consideration.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Everything here is available on prior DVD releases, like the great audio commentary with Altman and Writer Michael Tolkin, an interview with Altman, and then some deleted scenes and trailer.
"The Player" is on sale September 7, 2010 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Robert Altman. Written by Michael Tolkin. Starring Peter Gallagher, Richard E Grant, Vincent DOnofrio, Whoopi Goldberg, Greta Scacchi, Brion James, Fred Ward.
