THE REWATCHABLES · April 12, 2022
A 1992 comedy / crime directed by Robert Altman, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
A rapid-fire barrage of Hollywood pitches, fake loglines, and meta jokes that establishes the film’s tone and targets studio logic.
About 48 minA big Altman crowd sequence that showcases his ability to move through a packed room while keeping dialogue alive.
About 48 minGriffin’s encounter with Vincent D’Onofrio at the movie theater leads into the murder plot and a sharp exchange about screenwriting.
About 56 minThe absurdly overworked pitch for a star-less legal thriller shows the film skewering development culture.
About 56 minA fake-straight studio speech about the art of movies is followed by the reveal of the overblown in-film movie.
About 56 minWhoopi Goldberg and Lyle Lovett interrogate Griffin in a scene full of comic deadpan and physical business.
About 40 minTheir flirtation/confession scenes are atmospheric but leave her motivation ambiguous.
About 1:12WHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsIt feels like ground zero for the modern era of Hollywood self-satire.
Sean FennesseyIt’s not the first, but it is an especially important and influential version of the form.
Wesley MorrisIt crystallizes the late-80s/early-90s Hollywood-awareness trend more than originating it.
Bill SimmonsHis comeback and technical skill make him one of the great late-career filmmakers.
Sean FennesseyHis biggest legacy is influence on later filmmakers and ensemble storytelling.
Wesley MorrisHis legacy includes understanding the business models that let him keep working.
Bill SimmonsThe character feels underexplained and not fully convincing.
Sean FennesseyShe is a deliberate noir/Altman-type cipher rather than a fully motivated realist character.
Wesley MorrisHer opacity fits the movie’s cliche and art-world logic.
Bill SimmonsIt might work in a stretched format, though he resists the idea.
Sean FennesseyThe mystery plus industry setting could support episodic expansion.
Wesley MorrisHe jokes the format might already exist in a different TV-era version of the same material.
Bill frames the movie as a hugely impactful inside-Hollywood satire that made him feel fascinated and distant from the industry.
Opening minutesSean argues this film restored Altman’s standing and fits his broader legacy as an iconoclast and ensemble master.
About 16 minWesley calls it one of the first movies to fully voice the Hollywood self-critique already circulating in books and magazines.
About 8 minBill repeatedly celebrates the opening as a perfect, layered set piece and one of the film’s signature achievements.
About 48 minSean emphasizes Altman’s ability to keep big party scenes alive by lingering just long enough on each person.
About 48 minWesley argues the movie captures executives’ desire to control art while exposing the emptiness of their stewardship.
About 32 minBill loves Whoopi’s comic police-station scenes and treats them as one of the film’s funniest running highlights.
About 40 minSean makes Whoopi the Dion Waiters winner, stressing that she steals every scene she’s in.
About 1:28Bill questions the casting fit for the female lead opposite Greene/Griffin and suggests another actress might have been more compelling.
About 1:12Sean praises the ending as a rare case where Altman imposes a needed, perfect resolution on a story that could have remained looser.
About 24 minBill treats Altman as a favorite director whose career comeback and technical skill are central to the episode’s admiration.
About 16 minThe film mocks executives, pitches, vanity, and the emptiness of studio culture while still loving the business enough to make fun of it well.
About 8 minAltman’s gift is shown as managing crowded spaces, overlapping voices, and communities rather than single-character psychology.
About 32 minThe conversation returns to the idea that executives and business imperatives can obstruct art, even when they think they are helping it.
About 32 minThey see the film as forecasting the death of stars, the rise of meta comedy, and the current fragmentation of moviegoing.
About 1:20Altman allegedly wanted to make a Hollywood satire so cheaply that he assembled dozens of celebrity cameos instead of a traditional star-driven cast.
About 24 minThe opening sequence reportedly required 15 takes and used the 10th one.
About 48 minThe film was adapted from Michael Tolkin’s 1988 novel, but the ending is very different.
About 24 minAltman had a reputation for heavy drinking, drugs, gambling, and difficult behavior in earlier decades.
About 16 minThe movie reportedly features 65 celebrity cameos, including many Oscar winners and nominees.
About 24 minSome cut footage included Jeff Daniels playing golf in a surgeon gown and Patrick Swayze doing karate moves.
About 1:20 · medium confidenceCited as an earlier Hollywood movie-about-movies precedent.
About 8 minReferenced as a later example of fourth-wall/self-satirical showbiz storytelling.
About 8 minUsed as a contemporary example of fourth-wall-breaking self-awareness.
About 8 minOne of the entertainment magazines whose Hollywood cynicism fed the film’s sensibility.
About 8 minMentioned as another source of Hollywood-insider attitude.
About 8 minUsed as a failed comparison point for Hollywood vanity and corporate satire.
About 8 minReferenced as an early Altman hit and a legacy touchstone.
About 16 minNamed as Altman’s peak ensemble film and a key influence on his style.
About 32 minCited as a Paul Thomas Anderson movie that borrows from Altman’s ensemble approach.
About 32 minUsed as a comparison point for the Greta Scacchi character’s icy ambiguity.
About 1:12Named as a later meta-Hollywood satire in the same lineage.
About 1:20Referenced as another media-industry satire.
About 1:20Referenced as a newer industry movie with Hollywood business satire elements.
About 1:20 · medium confidenceUsed as a later Pollack appearance and a visual reference point for his acting run.
About 48 minReferenced in a joke about studio bosses and power dynamics.
About 1:04 · medium confidenceThey repeatedly joke that those two stars were the default answer for casting any movie in the early 90s.
About 48 minThe group treats the movie’s homicide as both absurdly serious and oddly breezy.
About 56 minThey hand out their recurring “Dion Waiters” honor for scene-stealing comic performances.
About 1:28They riff on actors who were once nameless but later became recognized character actors.
About 56 minThey repeatedly try to place actors and the movie itself at peak career moments.
About 40 min“It'll be funny? Yeah, it'll be funny.”About 48 min
“We want real people here.”About 56 min
“The critics are calling The Player a masterpiece.”Opening minutes
“Pasadena is as good a place to die as anywhere.”About 1:04
“You don't get to see the tits you want to see”About 1:12
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before The Player, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Sean FennesseyThe RewatchablesREWATCH FAVS
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