THE PLAYER (1992)

THE PLAYER (R) A true comeback for director Robert Altman-a return to the infinitely sly and supple virtuosity that marked his great films of the '70s (M*A*S*H, Nashville, etc.). A gleefully close-to-the-bone satirical thriller about Hollywood in the age of high concept, the movie centers on Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), a hot young production executive who has been receiving threatening postcards from an enraged screenwriter. As he journeys from offices to parties, from restaurants to black-tie galas, Altman serves up a lip-smacking insider's tour of the new Hollywood, a place where movies have been reduced to pure packaging. Yet the second Griffin attempts to track down his mysterious adversary, his whole life seems to turn into a movie-and a pungent, oddly thrilling one. Beneath its sardonic surface, The Player is a ( loose-limbed comic meditation on what's real and what's not real. The film is sublime entertainment, at once ticklish and suspenseful, cynical and sincere. By its very existence, Altman's comedy about the death of Hollywood lets you know that movies are still alive and kicking. A

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