Pretentious, Self-centered and Egotistical

This was highly regarded critically on release, and did well at a number of international film festivals. It has impeccable arthouse credentials; shot on digital video and based on a piece by Tolstoy but unfortunately it doesn?t live up to the hype. Danny Huston, as Ivan Beckman, the agent at the centre of the story, is strong but although the film is moving at times it is primarily composed out of self-loathing and disgust. The central character is occasionally likeable, but suffering and self-torture are hard to watch, and the film is polluted by the miseries of the world Ivan inhabits. This is a gloomy, pretentious piece, presenting a very ugly image of the movie world, and the people that inhabit it. Like most of those people the film takes itself too seriously, and finally it is hard to care about either the characters or it. Watch ?The Player? instead.