By Susan Polk

Directed by: Robert Altman

Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Kim Basinger, Tim Robbins, Linda Hunt, Lauren Bacall, Julia Roberts, Sally Kellerman

Now playing at: Rivoli Cinemas, Hoyts and Village complexes throughout Melbourne

Rating: ****

If you have been hanging back on seeing Roger Altman's latest film, Pret-a-Porter because of the mixed reviews it has recieved in recent weeks, put your doubts aside and simply go, as this is one of the funnier films to come to the big screen in quite some time. And yes, it is flawed - some plotlines lead nowhere, some characters vanish into thin air whilst others seem to persist for no particular reason, occasionally giving the impression that somehow the viewer has slipped into a parallel universe where the same film is showing but with a subtle change in cast and direction. This disconcerting quality should be ignored, as it stems from a literal overflow of good satire, and the ragged edges are easily forgiven in favor of the sheer magnitude of entertainment.

Although aimed at the vicious and vapid behind-the-scenes goings-on in the fashion industry's most high-profile event of the year, the Pret-a-Porter (ready to wear) fashion parade, Altman's scatter-gun approach to filmmaking fells more than just the expected victims. Designers, fashion magazine editors and, naturally, the models all come under fire with uniformly hilarious results, but the less predictable of the plotlines prove to be just as entertaining and provide veteran actors such as Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren and Danny Aiello with fodder for their enormous talent. Mastroianni in particular is eminently watchable as the centre of the murder mystery resulting from top designer Oliver de Fontaine's (Jean-Pierre Cassel) fatal encounter with a ham sandwich. His infiltration of the Pret-a-Porter show in hopes of reuniting with his childhood sweetheart Isabella (Sophia Loren) brings him in contact with nearly every character in the film and although he scarcely has any lines his performance is among the film's best.

The unlikely tour guide through the kaleidescopic insanity that surrounds the week-long event is the vacuous but enthusiastic Kitty Porter (Kim Basinger), inept info-tainment hostess extraordinaire. Basinger nearly steals the show as she drags her camera crew from one Parisian location to another, all the while prattling away and tossing off some of the most poorly constructed compound modifiers and aliterations you'll ever come across.

The parade of camoes by members of the fashion industry rivals that of the appearances of famous actors - nearly everyone in this film is a celebrity of one sort or another. The fact that so many of those who are engaged in or frequent the industry are willing to participate in such a ruthless send-up of their own world indicates that the flaws in the overhyped, dehumanising business were ripe for the picking.

Some may argue that this is one of Altman's least coherent films, but judging by the willingness and gleeful participation of all involved, Pret-a-Porter might be far more accurate that we of the off-the-rack set may ever know.