The Player (1992)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers (WGA):

Michael Tolkin (screenplay)
Michael Tolkin (novel)

Release Date:

10 April 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The Best Movie Ever Made!" - Griffin Mill

Plot:

A studio executive is being blackmailed by a writer whose script he rejected but which one? Loaded with Hollywood insider jokes.

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Blackmail | Murder | Screenwriter | Investigation

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Tim Robbins	...	Griffin Mill
Greta Scacchi	...	June Gudmundsdottir
Fred Ward	...	Walter Stuckel
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Detective Avery
Peter Gallagher	...	Larry Levy
Brion James	...	Joel Levison
Cynthia Stevenson	...	Bonnie Sherow
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	David Kahane
Dean Stockwell	...	Andy Civella
Richard E. Grant	...	Tom Oakley
Sydney Pollack	...	Dick Mellon
Lyle Lovett	...	Detective DeLongpre
Dina Merrill	...	Celia
Angela Hall	...	Jan
Leah Ayres	...	Sandy

MPAA:

Rated R for language, and for some sensuality.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | USA:R (certificate #31599) | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Argyle Hotel - 8358 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

Avenue Pictures Productions

Trivia:

During the sessions where movies are pitched, one will always suggest certain actors for certain roles. For the female lead Julia Roberts is always mentioned, as well as Bruce Willis for the male lead. In the final scene of the in-movie movie you actually see Bruce Willis saving Julia Roberts.

Goofs:

Continuity: Position of Griffin's tie while he's breaking up with Bonnie.

Quotes:

[Last lines]
June: What took you so long?
Griffin Mill: Traffic was a bitch.

Movie Connections:

References Highly Dangerous (1950)

Soundtrack:

PRECIOUS

Classic referred to by journalists, reviewers...has entered the lexicon

Robert Altman performed a great service to us movie fans with this movie. We are able to see the brutish way the studios treat their writers....and don't find it difficult to believe that some writer would want to murder the producer.

The many homages paid to other movies is great: the execution scene from "I want to Live" is replayed, and Bruce Willis jumping in the midst of the cyanide fumes to rescue the damsel in distress makes the contrast with the Graham movie even more poignant (especially if you believe she was innocent). Watching the various emotions play across Tim Robbins face makes you understand what a great actor he is.

The convoluted plot makes the movie more interesting, even as we see a Palm Springs lovers' rendezvous where some lovers swim in the nude in front of others dancing. You don't know what's true and what's not, even when the producer's ex-girlfriend is left sobbing on the steps. It seems too melodramatic for reality, but melodrama is what these people are all about!!!!! Altman's favorite trick of having everybody talk over each other is, while realistic, disconcerting. I still wish I could have heard what Burt Reynolds was saying, nothing complimentary, when Robbins walked up to him at the restaurant. Watching the writers become sycophants, prostituting their 'art' just to get the movie made rang QUITE true. He backs down on both 'no stars' and 'no Hollywood ending'. The only one with morals involved in the movie business gets fired, of course.

One of the movies you need to have on your shelf. Now I've got to go back and watch for Robbins' many references to different brands of water, pointed out by the NYTimes just today.