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I don't know if this Robert Altman film is considered a classic or not in 2016...but it was Oscar nominated for best director and best screenplay in 1992. And it received many more nominations for other awards, including some for best actor for Tim Robbins, and some best picture nods.
I did not like this film a whole lot. I'd give it something like a 5.8 / 10.
I think Robert Altman in the 1970s was a great director, and by the 1990s, he had switched almost exclusively to making movies about high society and celebrities that seemed kind of like two hours of him masturbating on camera.
I didn't think there was anything about The Player to merit a best director nomination. There were three or four shots that seemed relatively tricky to execute, but not at a Spielberg level or anything. The best praise I can offer is that nobody in the extensive cast gave a bad performance. Nor did anyone give a great performance, but nobody read false, which is something of an achievement with 50 cameos or so.
Just offhand, I think better directed films from 1992 include Batman Returns, Dracula, Unforgiven, Basic Instinct, A Few Good Men, Scent of a Woman, Alien 3, The Crying Game, Glengarry Glen Ross, Reservoir Dogs, Last of the Mohicans, Howard's End, Mr. Saturday Night, etc...
I think the film was considered brilliant at the time, but I don't think it holds up especially well 24 years later. It's a very ordinary story that just happens to be crammed with 50 of Altman's A-list friends.
It really made me miss the guy that made challenging movies like 3 Women or Images in the 70s. The Altman of the 90s really seemed like a completely different director.
Any fans of The Player?
I did not like this film a whole lot. I'd give it something like a 5.8 / 10.
I think Robert Altman in the 1970s was a great director, and by the 1990s, he had switched almost exclusively to making movies about high society and celebrities that seemed kind of like two hours of him masturbating on camera.
I didn't think there was anything about The Player to merit a best director nomination. There were three or four shots that seemed relatively tricky to execute, but not at a Spielberg level or anything. The best praise I can offer is that nobody in the extensive cast gave a bad performance. Nor did anyone give a great performance, but nobody read false, which is something of an achievement with 50 cameos or so.
Just offhand, I think better directed films from 1992 include Batman Returns, Dracula, Unforgiven, Basic Instinct, A Few Good Men, Scent of a Woman, Alien 3, The Crying Game, Glengarry Glen Ross, Reservoir Dogs, Last of the Mohicans, Howard's End, Mr. Saturday Night, etc...
I think the film was considered brilliant at the time, but I don't think it holds up especially well 24 years later. It's a very ordinary story that just happens to be crammed with 50 of Altman's A-list friends.
It really made me miss the guy that made challenging movies like 3 Women or Images in the 70s. The Altman of the 90s really seemed like a completely different director.
Any fans of The Player?
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