Partly factual, partly—for legal reasons—evasive, and always speculative, Fosse’s final film is his most explicit and grim meditation on the downside of fame and the violence perpetrated by machismo. The film deals with the meteoric rise to stardom of naïve girl-next-door type Dorothy Stratten, Playboy’s Playmate of the Year in 1980, who was murdered by her estranged and narcissistic husband-manager. Cliff Robertson is cannily believable as Hugh Hefner, symbol of the artificial world of Southern California glitz and glamour, while famed Swedish cameraman Sven Nykvist minimizes that world’s luster with his earth-toned cinematography.