The Player (1992)

• Year: 1992
• Released: 08 May 1992
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 24 wins & 33 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105151/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_player
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-player
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
• Runtime: 124 min
• Writer: Michael Tolkin
• Director: Robert Altman
• Cast: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward
• Keywords: based on novel or book, hollywood, blackmail, movie business, homicide,

	7.5/10
	86/100

The Player Storyline

Griffin Mill, a Hollywood movie studio Vice President in charge of securing story ideas from writers which entails listening to a series of twenty-five second pitches day after day, is facing several issues in his life. He is in a so-called serious relationship with one of his story editors Bonnie Sherow, a woman who he deep down doesn’t even really like, and who is probably smarter than he is when it comes to the work of their department. Rumors abound that he will soon be demoted or perhaps even fired and replaced by Larry Levy, a younger, more ambitious executive from another studio. But probably the worst issue is that he has been receiving death threats from an anonymous source, always via handwritten postcards usually making their way to his desk via the studio’s mail system. All he knows is that the threats are coming from a writer he had pissed off in the past by not getting back to him after a story pitch as he said he would do. Griffin believes that the person making the threats is David Kahane, a writer he had only met once at a pitch meeting. As such, Griffin decides to find David, and slowly confront him about the threats. At that meeting, Griffin physically assaults and kills David outside a movie theater in Pasadena. After David’s dead body is discovered, Detective Avery with the Pasadena Police Department leads the murder investigation, which could be a problem for Griffin, as he was known to have met with David the evening of the murder. Who may be more involved in what has been happening to Griffin may be the tall, slim man he has seen follow him of late, but who he does not recognize. What complicates the situation even more is that Griffin is attracted at first sight to June Gudmundsdottir, David’s less than mourning girlfriend, who in turn ultimately falls for Griffin. The question becomes whether Griffin’s collective story will end the way of all the movies that comes out of his studio, namely happily ever after.

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The Player Movie Reviews

Worth seeing a second and a third time….

I am surprised that the IMDb trivia section is so short for this film. After all, it’s jammed full of references to earlier films and is full of actor cameos. Because of this, it’s clearly a film that bears re- watching in order to catch the many small details many would often miss. Also, because this film is ultra-famous, already has many reviews and is beloved by many, I’ll keep my review relatively short. Suffice to say that it’s a film lovers and insiders dream movie.

The film begins with an insanely difficult scene that sets the stage for the film. It’s all in one long take where the camera moves all over a wide area on a film studio lot. But instead of being intimate, it feels almost like the viewer is hiding and peering at the many different things occurring simultaneously. This is brilliant, as the film does have a real voyeuristic quality…with many shots that are not traditionally framed but are as if you are watching in the near distance.

What follows is a very dark anti-fairy tale set in modern Hollywood. Instead of the usual story of a person working hard and doing good and ultimately being rewarded, this is pretty much the opposite. With a total jerk-face (Tim Robbins) screwing people over and even killing someone…and the consequences of this. It’s obviously meant as an attack on many Hollywood types–the users, the superficial and the vaguely talented. Overall, a superb film that works very well due to wonderful direction and a black hole-dark script filled with cynicism.

Good-natured Hollywood satire

Robert Altman’s THE PLAYER is a comic murder mystery set within the confines of Hollywood itself. The main character, played with skill by Tim Robbins, is a slimy studio executive who spends his days either greenlighting or turning down various scripts proposed to him by writers. When he starts to receive threatening postcards from somebody he’s turned down, he takes matters into his own hands…with drastic consequences.

The main emphasis of THE PLAYER is on its self-referencing, some four years before SCREAM came out and became the popular post-modern film satire. THE PLAYER’s achievements are more subtle, and the humour is more character focused, but anyone with any interest in Hollywood and its history whatsoever will be in their element here. There’s a realistic, chaotic feel to the storyline, where characters go off the rails but are nonetheless constrained by a tightly-ruled empire.

It’s hard to mention THE PLAYER without mentioning the endless star cameos. They’re plentiful and constant, and you could watch the film on mute just for the faces: Angelica Huston, Cher, Peter Falk, Susan Sarandon, the list is endless. Somebody asked me the other day which film has the most cameos in it and I think this would have to be the one. The ending, with a special pair of celebrity cameos, is absolutely hilarious and a real high point of the movie for me.

Mystery with the Altman style

Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is a studio executive who is receiving death-threatening postcards. He confronts writer David Kahane whom he thinks is sending the postcards. Only things get out of control.

This is Robert Altman’s sharp biting satirical look at self obsessed Hollywood. Everybody is pitching, everybody is fast talking, and everybody is scheming. This has the Altman style of overlapping conversations. The other interesting thing to watch for is the massive cast of Hollywood stars in cameos. This works as a mystery and satire. There is the minor problem that Tim Robbins is not a likable character. I find no way to root for this man. But it’s a good movie none the less.