First impressions on Robert Altman's The Player: Truly terrific, one of the best 90s movies I've seen. The 'Hollywood insider satire' genre is one that is often fun, but Altman succeeds brilliantly in making it far more than a simple biting comedy. There are moments of sheer cinematic brilliance here, from the opening shot (apparently entirely improvised) which apes Touch Of Evil, to the great murder sequence, to (my personal favorite scene) Mill's interrogation at the police station, where the 'player' is being 'played' himself (I felt Whoopi Goldberg was perfectly cast in her role). By the end, I wasn't really sure if what had just played was fiction, fact, or a movie. As of now, my favorite Altman film.
*****