Robert altman again today. This film is a very good example of hollywood satire at its finest! Tim robbins plays griffin mill, a man devoid of a sympathetic edge, a 'green light' guy who is receiving threatening letters from a writer he never got back to.
This serves as a framing method for a searing indictment of hollywood life and fakeness. All the other characters offer images of classic stereotypes and the only truly sympathetic and identifiably human characters are either cheated on or in one case brutally killed in the sudden explosion of violence that kicks the plot into gear after half an hour or so.
The only real problrm i have with this film is that while it is supposedly critical of hollywood's incestuous nature (four successive writers suggest julia roberts as the ideal star of their film) Altman uses his chache to have all his celebrity mates turn up as themselves and this leaves us confused when a new character turns up as to whether it is a character or the actor being themselves. This may well be the point but it seems to undermine the satire when all your celebrity mates help you out!
It is a truly great film with an absolutely perfect ending and i found myself laughing out loud as the movie world and real world get harder to tell apart and eventually merge. A d a superb central performance from Robbins and you have quite an experience. Highly recommended!
Friday, July 11, 2008
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The Player: A classic Altman movie that both partakes in, and satirises, the world it's meant to portray. Having famous people play themselves (Cher turning up at a black and white ball in Fire Engine red) and play characters (Whoopie Goldberg playing a police detective who seems pleasant but is actually a real bitch) also adds to the effect. None of the characters are actually very likeable apart from Cynthia Stevenson who plays Bonnie - and she's the one who ends up getting shafted. As there a moral there?
ReplyDeleteMy favourite character is Richard E Grant playing Tom Oakley who insists on pitching a film with 'no stars, just talent' only to end up with Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts playing the leads.
Worth watching from the spectacular 8 minute opening tracking shot (filmed entirely without steadycams and including the clapper board) to the ludicrous ending that all seems to work.
Watch out also from a small role by Gina Gershon playing a production assistant prior to here star making role in 'Showgirls" (or is that an oxymoron)
Hello Gary!
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from you.
Actually the opening shot is fudged a littlle (in keeping with the themes of the movie) - when it zooms in on the postcard there is a sudden cut, I only noticed it since I was looking out for it. If I'd been watching video I would have assumed there was a problem with my tape, but on a DvD that ran perfectly otherwise I doubt it. I also have suspicions that there is a cut when the messenger boy rides across in front of camera, since this is the sort of thing they did in Hitchcock's "Rope" one of the films they are talking about as they walk about the place.
Still, great film this one.
I couldn't work out one point in the movie, where he goes to the police station with Lyle Lovett (was he Mr Julia Roberts at this point?) and they all end up laughing at him and then he seems to wake up from a dream... was it a dream sequence? was it not? Weird, and quite David Lynch actually.