The Player (1992)
Average Rating: 8.7/10
Reviews Counted: 52
Fresh: 51 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 8.1/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 18,407
My Rating
Movie Info
Robert Altman takes a scalpel to Hollywood ethics in the 1990s (or the lack thereof) in his acidic satire The Player, adapted from Michael Tolkin's novel. (Tolkin also wrote the screenplay.) The film concerns a sleek and smooth Hollywood studio executive who starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer because he has committed the ultimate Hollywood sin -- he promised the writer he would call him back and he never did. This is particularly ironic because the studio executive, Griffin
Apr 10, 1992 Wide
Jul 16, 1997
Fine Line Features
Watch It Now
Cast
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Tim Robbins
Griffin Mill -
Greta Scacchi
June Gudmundsdottir -
Fred Ward
Walter Stuckel -
Whoopi Goldberg
Det. Susan Avery -
Peter Gallagher
Larry Levy -
Vincent D'Onofrio
David Kahane -
Brion James
Joel Levison -
Cynthia Stevenson
Bonnie Sherow -
Dean Stockwell
Andy Civella -
Richard E. Grant
Tom Oakley -
Sydney Pollack
Dick Mellen -
Lyle Lovett
Det. DeLongpre -
Dina Merrill
Celia -
Angela Hall
Jan -
Leah Ayres
Sandy -
Paul Hewitt
Jimmy Chase -
Randall Batinkoff
Reg Goldman -
Jeremy Piven
Steve Reeves -
Gina Gershon
Whitney Gersh -
Frank Barhydt
Frank Murphy -
Mike E. Kaplan
Marty Grossman -
Kevin Scannell
Gar Girard -
Steve Allen
Himself -
Richard Anderson
Himself -
Rene Auberjonois
Himself -
Harry Belafonte
Himself -
Shari Belafonte
Herself -
Karen Black
Herself -
Michael Bowen
Himself -
Gary Busey
Himself -
Robert Carradine
Himself -
Charles Champlin
Himself -
Cher
Herself -
James Coburn
Himself -
Cathy Lee Crosby
Herself -
John Cusack
Himself -
Brad Davis
Himself -
Paul Dooley
Himself -
Thereza Ellis
Herself -
Peter Falk
Himself -
Felicia Farr
Herself -
Kashia Figura
Herself -
Louise Fletcher
Herself -
Dennis Franz
Himself -
Teri Garr
Herself -
Leeza Gibbons
Herself -
Jeff Goldblum
Himself -
Elliott Gould
Himself -
Joel Grey
Himself -
David Alan Grier
Himself -
Buck Henry
Himself -
Anjelica Huston
Herself -
Kathy Ireland
Herself -
Steve James
Himself -
Maxine John-James
Herself -
Sally Kirkland
Herself -
Jack Lemmon
Himself -
Marlee Matlin
Herself -
Andie MacDowell
Herself -
Malcolm McDowell
Himself -
Jayne Meadows
Herself -
Martin Mull
Himself -
Jennifer Nash
Herself -
Nick Nolte
Himself -
Alexandra Powers
Herself -
Bert Remsen
Himself -
Guy Remsen
Himself -
Patricia Resnick
Herself -
Burt Reynolds
Himself -
Jack Riley
Himself -
Julia Roberts
Herself -
Mimi Rogers
Herself -
Annie Ross
Herself -
Alan Rudolph
Himself -
Jill St. John
Herself -
Susan Sarandon
Herself -
Adam Simon
Himself -
Rod Steiger
Himself -
Joan Tewkesbury
herself -
Brian Tochi
Himself -
Lily Tomlin
Herself -
Robert Wagner
Himself -
Ray Walston
Himself -
Bruce Willis
Himself -
Marvin Young
Himself -
Margery Bond
Witness -
Pamela Bowen
Trixie -
Brian Brophy
Phil -
-
Scott Glenn
Himself -
Pete Koch
Walter -
Natalie Strong
Natalie -
Jeff Weston
Rocco -
Susan J. Emshwiller
Detective Broom -
Michael Tolkin
Eric Schecter -
Stephen Tolkin
Carl Schecter -
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Scott Shaw
Himself (uncredited)
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All Critics (54) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (1) | DVD (15)
[It's] supposed to be scathing, but the pleasure it affords is like what you get from watching the Oscars: celebrity spotting and in-jokes.
Top CriticMercilessly satiric yet good-natured, this enormously entertaining slam dunk quite possibly is the most resonant Hollywood saga since the days of Sunset Blvd. and The Bad and the Beautiful.
A movie about today's Hollywood -- hilarious and heartless in about equal measure, and often at the same time.
Mr. Altman's most subversive message here is not that it's possible to get away with murder in Hollywood, but that the most grievous sin, in Hollywood terms anyway, is to make a film that flops.
[Altman] sticks it to every target, himself and us included, with a wicked zest that hurts only when you laugh.
Altman loves practical jokes, and The Player is his craftiest prank, his jolly last laugh.
Amusing black comedy on Tinseltown.
The Player can be admired even more now than it was at the time, because it so succinctly diagnosed the sickness that still causes Hollywood to churn out too much soulless "product."
Robert Altman's over-praised yet highly enjoyable skewering of the business of making movies arrives on Blu-ray in a befittingly humble and loving audio and visual transfer.
...if I were an actor in Hollywood and Altman didn't ask me to be in his film, I'd have been offended. (Blu-ray Edition)
Altman performs a bit of legerdemain, poking fun at the film industry while simultaneously paying tribute to it.
Cynical, sophisticated movie-industry-murder-mystery made with great attention to detail, and still one of the best examples of Hollywood turning the camera on itself.
One of the greatest Hollywood-eats-itself movies.
A daringly seductive satire working on its relentless terms with a fluid pace. Under seemingly improv surface, Altman has deconstructed Hollywood with cynical but not bitter eye, suggesting it's hard but not impossible for artists to work in the factory
As definitive a film about modern Hollywood as "Sunset Boulevard" was in its time.
Audience Reviews for The Player
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Latest News on The Player
March 14, 2012:
Fan Uncovers Robert Altman's First FilmThe instructional flick, titled "Modern Football," was shot by Altman in 1951.
May 26, 2008:
Sydney Pollack dies aged 73Academy Award-winning director, producer and actor, Sydney Pollack, dies aged 73.
May 8, 2008:
Kim Newman on... HotelRT Obscura, the exclusive column by renowned critic Kim Newman, sees the writer plumbing the depths...
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Foreign Titles
- El juego de Hollywood (ES)
