"What about the truth? What about reality? 

"What about the way the ending tested in Canoga Park?" 

Biting satire and ruthless commentary on the movie business like you've never seen before. The Player is known as director of classic films like M*A*S*H, Nashville and The Long Goodbye  Robert Altman's comeback movie after a spell of bad luck. And what a comeback movie it is. It almost feels like an open letter to Hollywood, calling out everything wrong with the direction it was going as of 1992, which is the path it unfortunately ended up staying on after  all. The most interesting aspect of the film is how meta it is, it even casts several dozen people from the golden days of Hollywood including Anjelica Huston, Jack Lemmon, and Malcom McDowell to play themselves. The fictional performances are great too. Tim Robbins gives a wonderful performance as Griffin Mill, the soulless studio exec, and Greta Scacchi is amazing as the woman who captivates him. 

This is truly a movie for the old souls and the old timers, good-naturedly ribbing Hollywood for its departure from the simpler films of the 70s-80s in favor of the blockbuster. It's a movie for those who love pop culture from around that time, as it is absolutely chock full of references to other films and actors. It also provides a look inside the movie industry, which is interesting even if the purpose is to take a jab at the way things are done. All in all, The Player is a movie-lover's movie.