Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy
Theatrical Release: 04/10/1992(USA)
Release Date: 07/16/1997
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DDS
Run Time: 124 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Humor, Profanity, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: New Line Home Video
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 Mill (
Tim Robbins), is considered "writer-friendly," spending his days listening to pitches from such noted screenwriters as
Buck Henry, who is pushing "The Graduate, Part II" and
Alan Rudolph, who is hawking a
Bruce Willis action film described as "
Ghost meets
The Manchurian Candidate." But
The Player finds Griffin's comfortable life style in danger of collapse. He is trying to find a way to unload his girlfriend (
Cynthia Stevenson) whose independence and intelligence make her a poor candidate for a trophy wife. More importantly, it seems that Larry Levy (
Peter Gallagher), a slippery executive from Twentieth Century Fox, is angling for his job. And then there are those nasty postcards and faxes from a screenwriter threatening to kill him. Altman cast over 65 stars in cameo roles as texture for his scabrous tale.
~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
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