Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Robert Altman
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Dean Stockwell, Fred Ward, Greta Scacchi, Peter Gallagher, Tim Robbins, Whoopi Goldberg
Published ID: 4392
UPC: 794043403224,

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Plot: 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