Director Robert Altman and screenwriter Michael Tolkin, both of whom were Oscar-nominated for The Player, manage to create a film that works as a simple detective story but on another level is a pitch-perfect satire on the entire movie industry which will appeal to film buffs for both the accurate skewering of much of Hollywood's superinflated opinion of itself and for the number of cameos they manage to cram into 145 minutes.

Have fun too, trying to recognise the real movies hidden behind the spoof pitches that star Tim Robbins has to field. With excellent support from Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward and Whoopi Goldberg to name but three, this movie will appeal to anyone looking for a good yarn with a few laughs thrown in.

Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is a studio script screener - the guy who decides whether a script will be made into a film or not. He starts to receive threatening postcards and assumes they are from a writer who has taken exception to having his script rejected.

Griffin thinks he knows who it might be, and pays him a visit one night. The writer (Vincent D'Onofrio) threatens Griffin, the two argue and Griffin accidentally kills him. Two detectives (Whoopi Goldberg and Lyle Lovett) are assigned to investigate the death and are suspicious of Griffin even though there is no proof he was connected.

But as time goes by, Griffin plunges ever deeper into a maelstrom of blackmail and evasion, finding it increasingly difficult to avoid becoming entangled in the police investigation he caused.

The Player: Film4, Sunday 30 September, 11.40pm

Worth a look:
Scream: Film4, Saturday 29 September, 11.20pm
The Andromeda Strain: BBC One, Monday 1 October, 11.55pm
A Fish Called Wanda: Virgin 1, Tuesday 2 October, 9pm