7.5/10
52,898
198 user 88 critic

The Player (1992)

14A | | Comedy, Crime, Drama | 8 May 1992 (USA)
Trailer
0:32 | Trailer
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected, but which one?

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Michael Tolkin (screenplay), Michael Tolkin (novel)
Reviews
Popularity
3,036 ( 584)
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 29 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Edit

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 Mellen
Lyle Lovett ... Detective DeLongpre
Dina Merrill ... Celia
Angela Hall ... Jan
Leah Ayres ... Sandy
Learn more

More Like This 

Short Cuts (1993)
Certificate: 14 Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

The day-to-day lives of several suburban Los Angeles residents.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Andie MacDowell, Julianne Moore, Tim Robbins
Certificate: A Comedy | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

Private investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden
Nashville (1975)
Certificate: PG Comedy | Drama | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Keith Carradine, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley
MASH (1970)
Certificate: PA Comedy | Drama | War
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt
Drama | Western
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois
Gosford Park (2001)
Certificate: 14A Comedy | Drama | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

The lives of upstairs guests and downstairs servants at a party in 1932 in a country house in England as they investigate a murder involving one of them.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Maggie Smith, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Gambon
3 Women (1977)
Certificate: PG Drama | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

Two roommates/physical therapists, one a vain woman and the other a mysterious teenager, share a bizarre relationship.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Janice Rule
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.1/10 X  

A chronicle of the interconnected lives of a group of people in the lead up to Paris Fashion Week.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Sophia Loren, Julia Roberts, Marcello Mastroianni
Blood Simple (1984)
Certificate: 14A Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her lover. However, nothing is simple when blood is involved.

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Stars: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya
Images (1972)
Drama | Horror | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Schizophrenic housewife, engulfed by terrorizing apparitions, kills off each, unknowing if these demons are merely figments of her hallucinatory imagination or part of reality.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Susannah York, Rene Auberjonois, Marcel Bozzuffi
Certificate: PG Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.

Director: Terrence Malick
Stars: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard
Certificate: PG Comedy | Drama | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country music siren, and a host of others hold court.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Lily Tomlin, Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson
Edit

Storyline

Events in the life of a Hollywood studio executive, unfold with the same unrealistic positive coincidences, ultimately culminating to a "happy ending", much like the movie scripts, with which he works day in and out, after he accidentally murders someone. Written by Abhay Bhatt

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Making movies can be murder. See more »


Certificate:

14A | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The interior of Griffin Mill's office is the same as used in Barton Fink (1991). See more »

Goofs

Leg and sneaker visible reflecting in the grille of Griffin's Rolls Royce. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Man 1: [voiceover] Quiet on the set.
Woman: [voiceover] OK, everybody, quiet on the set.
Man 2: [voiceover] Scene 1, take 10. Marker.
Man 1: [voiceover] And - action!
See more »

Crazy Credits

This film recorded digitally in a THX Sound System Theatre See more »

Alternate Versions

In the theatrical version there was a frontal nude scene of Tim Robbins at the hotel in the desert. This scene was removed for the cable version. See more »

Connections

Featured in Altman (2014) See more »

Soundtracks

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
Theme by Michael Mark
Published by ADDAX MUSIC CO. INC.
See more »

User Reviews

 
Excellent Hollywood satire that succeeds in every way.
23 August 1999 | by Spider-52See all my reviews

For anyone who loves movies, "The Player" is a treat.

To start, the screenplay is first-rate. The plot that holds the entire film together is superbly crafted; very few films leave you guessing right to the end as this one does. The finer details also shine through, such as the sales pitch scenes, which are inarguably classic (i.e. "The Graduate II").

I loved the attention to detail in "The Player". One can find a new detail every time one watches the film. For example, the opening sequence is a very long, continuous shot during which characters are discussing Hitchcock's "Rope", which appears to be a movie filmed all in one continuous shot. The sheer number of cameos in "The Player" makes it difficult to list all of them, so I won't even try.

"The Player" is one film that sets out to skewer Hollywood and actually succeeds. One only has to view the Bruce Willis/Julia Roberts sequence in order to understand this. My hat goes off to Robert Altman for making another excellent film.


8 of 8 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 198 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more »
Edit

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1992 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Le meneur See more »

Edit

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$302,216, 12 April 1992

Gross USA:

$21,706,101

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,706,101
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »

Contribute to This Page



Recently Viewed