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| The Player |
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| Originally released: 1992 |
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A studio exec (Robbins) accidentally kills the writer he thinks is
blackmailing him. And, voilà, Altman bites the hand that
feeds, to quote every review of it ever written. How so? Not since the
1970s had he really been a beneficiary of the studios, frequently
struggling to get his work even seen on TV. So we should be suspicious of
such a breezy, in-jokey, just-sufficiently-caustic attack on
Tinseltown (and, significantly, one that managed to get Oscar
nominations). Not nearly desperate or vengeful enough to feel real,
its safe, enjoyable mockery looks more like a plea for another chance.
(He got one, but only Short Cuts has subsequently proved worth it.)
Tim Robey
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