IMDb > The Player (1992)
The Player
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The Player (1992) More at IMDbPro »

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The Player (1992) -- hv post

Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   23,095 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers (WGA):

Michael Tolkin (screenplay)
Michael Tolkin (novel)

Contact:

View company contact information for The Player on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

10 April 1992 (USA) more

Genre:

Comedy | Drama more

Tagline:

The Best Movie Ever Made!" - Griffin Mill more

Plot:

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

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 10 nominations more

NewsDesk:
(27 articles)

Warner Bros. Remaking ‘Captain Blood’…In Space
 (From Screen Rant. 3 August 2009, 1:37 PM, PDT)

Captain Blood Remake Will Be Set In Space
 (From Cinema Blend. 31 July 2009, 10:09 AM, PDT)

User Comments:

The best anti-Hollywood film ever made by Hollywood more (115 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:

O Jogador (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
A játékos (Hungary) [hu]
El juego de Hollywood (Spain) [es]
Gracz (Poland) [pl]
I protagonisti (Italy) [it]
Igrac (Serbia) [sr]
Igralec (Slovenia) [sl]
Joc de culise (Romania) [ro]
Las reglas del juego (Argentina) [es]
Le meneur (Canada: French title) [fr]
O paiktis (Greece) [el]
Oyuncular (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Spelaren (Sweden) [sv]
The Player (Germany) [de]
The Player (Denmark) [da]
The Player (France) [fr]
The player - pelimies (Finland) [fi]
more

MPAA:

Rated R for language, and for some sensuality.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

Scenes with Jeff Daniels playing golf in a surgeon's gown at a hospital and Patrick Swayze showing off karate moves were filmed but cut. more

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Mud facial dries much too quickly for the few seconds we see it especially on Griffin's face. more

Quotes:

Larry Levy: I'll be there right after my AA meeting.
Griffin Mill: Oh Larry, I didn't realise you had a drinking problem.
Larry Levy: Well I don't really, but that's where all the deals are being made these days.
more

Movie Connections:

References Rosemary's Baby (1968) more

Soundtrack:

DRUMS OF KYOTO more


FAQ

What actors make cameo apperences as themselves ?
more
32 out of 33 people found the following comment useful.
The best anti-Hollywood film ever made by Hollywood, 23 July 2003
8/10
Author: Peter Hayes from United Kingdom

Griffin Mill is a young hotshot producer who everyone bows and scrapes to because he has the powers to get a movie made. However he starts getting bugged by a dissatisfied writer which leads to all kinds of deadly intrigue.

Just when I thought Altman had gone totally off-the-boil he suddenly jumps back with his most perfectly realised film. While hardly unapplauded on its release (and in short retrospect) this is a movie that will be regarded by future generations as a classic. It is so smart, sassy, funny and has a beginning, a middle and an end. The kind of tragicomedy that gets the best of both worlds.

Robbins is perfect as the lead. He doesn't do much or emote much. As Robert De Niro once said "most people don't show their emotions, they hide them." Occasionally we get behind the shield of human indifference, but only occasionally. We don't like him much - nor should we - but he is not so bad that we can't bare him. Indeed he is merely someone whose selfish world gets out of control. Whoopie Goldberg makes the most of her unlikely casting too.

The appearance of stars in guest parts adds a bit of icing, but that is all. I loved Altman's directions to the stars who had to play walk-ons (who else could have got that?) "remember, you are responsible for who you are on screen. You are playing yourselves!"

The sexy Scacchi plays the love interest with great skill. While just a muse she is a far better actress than most and this shows in her short screen time. Shame she hasn't more involvement in the main plot.

Like breaking a car down in to its competent parts, taking The Player apart only leaves an ugly mess of oil and metal. Together it drives a tight little film that has insight, drama and comedy. I would hesitate to call this a masterpiece, but it is a mini-masterpiece that however farfetched never reaches the point of being totally unbelievable.

The pay off at the end is one of the best belly-laughs any film buff could ever get. I doubt I will see a better film about modern day Hollywood in my lifetime. Like Pulp Fiction, a film that is as enjoyable the second time of viewing as the first.

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Edit in opening sequence? anotherspaceman
Garbage! lojack_ii
Tim Robbins Or Macaulay Culkin? bryan-wake
nude scene rosedawson-2
Not even in top 250? What the hey... LargeStuffedWolf
Question and theory tim_sf3
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