I'm Obviously Not The Player

Ever like a movie because someone else did? It's funny how the people in our lives affect our movies tastes. This is probably most common when men pretend to like romantic comedies to impress their date, or maybe someone is trying to fit in with friends, an older brother controls the TV and is watching action movies on USA every Saturday morning, or lastly, you have a college professor who you really respect because he jumps on tables and tells you your poetic license is bullshit or asks you if you're stoned while attending his class. Oh Dr. Morrill, what gave it away? The long hair, the Alice in Wonderland dye with the big caterpillar smoking a hookah, or was it the fact that I came to class barefoot pretty much the entire semester and replied to most questions with long winded deep thoughts by Zach Handy that were tragically un-philosophic?

My poetry professors were a good bunch, and being professors, knew probably 400% more about the art than I did. When reading many poems in all those classes, I get more surprised every year that they did not break out into laughter more often, but that's what being a good professor is all about. Being a movie critic is not.

The Player was first watched by me in the 90s because it was suggested by above referenced professor guy. It's a pretty good movie'n all, but this is someone who made me realize Jim Morrison is a mere buffoon (though that was probably inevitable) and this is the best he can suggest? The Player? Aside from such highlights as them accidentally filming Tim Robbins' wang (it's there, trust me) and the dramaturgical dyad of the detective team Whoopi Goldberg and Lyle Lovett … yes, you are reading that correctly, the biggest antagonists Tim Robbins has to battle in this are a detective team consisting of Whoopi and Lyle Lovett … the film is kept along by numerous cameos, be it John Cusack, Burt Reynolds, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts and an interesting tale of the bad guy getting away with it, but it's kind of boring.

In fact, I don't even know why I'm writing about it. Am I secretly hoping to find that one person out there who's actually watched this film several times as I have in hopes we can break it down scientifically and compare it to other irrelevant films of the early 90s? This is the power of someone influential on one's life, influencing your tastes. Without this particular professor, I never would have not only watched this movie once, but several times. Strange thing is, I like the film. I'll watch it again.