Mistress

Mistress has a few weak patches, but they're directly tied to the production's funky charm, and without them, the film might not be half so engaging. All things considered, I wouldn't change one word. [27 Nov 1992, p.18]

The light approach almost derails the movie; without being cheap or misleading, Mistress is a feel-good movie that could've had a sharper sting. It's less satirical and probably more realistic than The Player, but it's also more predictably diagrammed. [28 Aug 1992, p.26]

The movie lacks the cleanedged economy of the screenplay for The Player, and it could have benefitted from less talkiness and fewer characters, but as a portrait of a particular Hollywood strata it is bittersweet and knowledgeable.

Landau and Wuhl give especially heartfelt performances under the obviously sympathetic direction of Barry Primus, who based the story on his own attempts to finance a project.

While Mistress might gnaw a bit at the problems it tries to confront, it never really sinks its teeth into them. [15 Mar 1993]

The satire is finally too thin and familiar (and not just from The Player - most of the observations here have been staples of the Hollywood comedy since the early '30s) to support the movie's pervasive tone of sourness and disgust. [21 Aug 1992, p.J]

While Landau, Aiello and a brief appearance by Christopher Walken do perk things up, it's a tediously indulgent, redundant work.