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The Player (1992)
Hollywood loves to lampoon itself, if only to prove that it realises the bizarre situation that is the film industry in California. Robert Altman’s dark, satirical film focuses on slimy movie studio executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), who begins to receive mysterious death-threats from an aggrieved writer who claims that Mill has dismissed him and his pitch. The plot takes a sinister turn when Mill believes he has identified the writer and sets up a meeting....
Altman’s direction is paradoxically both hard to ignore and passively observant. The camera eavesdrops on conversations as it swoops past, often refusing to focus on the characters who are speaking, thus leaving them in the background. The opening shot is just one of the film’s many long takes (at an astonishing eight minutes in length); even more impressive in that all the dialogue for the opening scene is improvised.
Tim Robbins’ tall frame easily slips into the ruthless, slightly creepy, studio executive who decides which pitches his studio makes into a film. Elsewhere you can have fun playing ‘spot the celebrity cameo’ as big Hollywood names line up to appear in Altman’s modern classic. And if you don’t like the ending, well, that’s Hollywood.
Jerry Maguire (1996)
This isn’t an outright romantic comedy, but for people who like labels then that is the closest you’re going to get for this Cameron Crowe film. Tom Cruise plays the title character, a high-flying sports agent who suddenly has a change of heart and issues a mission statement (not a memo) telling his company how they should improve the way they do business. When he is subsequently fired for not towing the company line, the only person who joins him on his venture is accountant Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger), a young single mother who was inspired by Jerry’s vision.
What is refreshing about Jerry Maguire is that the central romantic relationship does not take the same predictable course as is usual in so many average romantic comedies. Initially Jerry’s closest relationships are with Dorothy’s son Ray (an almost impossibly cute Jonathan Lipnicki) and his sole client, the fast-talking, money-seeking NFL player Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.). It is Lipnicki and Gooding Jr. that really steal the show, although Cruise and Zellweger create convincing chemistry as the two leads in a relationship that veers between passionate intimacy and average coupledom. This is an example of director Crowe on fine form.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
From the madman/genius behind Being John Malkovich and Adaptation comes Charlie Kaufman’s second collaboration with equally eccentric director Michel Gondry, which won an Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay. After discovering that his girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has had all her memories of him erased, Joel Barrish (Jim Carrey) decides to embark on the same process. However during the procedure he has a change of heart and he goes on the run (literally) in his own head, trying to keep the last remaining memories of Clementine alive.
Even more than he did in The Truman Show, Carrey tames his manic alter ego to deliver a beautifully subtle performance as a man so emotionally buttoned-down even he doesn’t know how he’s feeling. Winslet was deservingly nominated for an Oscar® for her performance as Clementine, who runs the emotional gamut from ecstasy to distress without any hesitation. All the supporting players are equally game, with standouts being Kirsten Dunst and Tom Wilkinson who are allowed a poignant subplot; initially it seems superfluous, if no less intriguing, but it soon becomes vital to the outcome. Most of the film takes place in Joel’s mind, and the editing is truly outstanding, creating visually stunning transitions between Joel’s various memories. This genuinely original film warrants, and was intended for, repeated viewings.
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