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The Player

Play trailer Poster for The Player R Released Apr 3, 1992 2h 3m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
97% Tomatometer 66 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Certain that the anonymous threats he's been receiving are the work of David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), producer Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) tries to fix things over cocktails. Instead, Griffin ends up murdering the screenwriter and courting the dead man's girlfriend (Greta Scacchi). As police investigate, Griffin concentrates on a prestigious film that might reinvigorate his career. But he soon learns that David's demise hasn't been forgotten by everyone in Hollywood.
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The Player

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Critics Consensus

Bitingly cynical without succumbing to bitterness, The Player is one of the all-time great Hollywood satires -- and an ensemble-driven highlight of the Altman oeuvre.

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Critics Reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: A Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Entertainment Weekly Rated: A Nov 6, 2009 Full Review David Ansen Newsweek Hilarious and deadly, this may be Altman's most completely realized film since his glory days in the '70s. Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Farah Cheded A Good Movie To Watch Deliciously meta... simply masterful. Aug 18, 2023 Full Review Terry Francis Southern Voice (Atlanta) Part satire of Hollywood and its ever molting presence of dealmakers and sycophants, The Player is also a suspense film wickedly sure of its targets. May 9, 2023 Full Review Zita Short InSession Film I think that The Player fails when it comes to achieving its main objective, pillorying the industry, and that does end up counting for a lot. Rated: C- Feb 7, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Mason M The Player was a really great film. I'm not the most knowledgeable of Robert Altman's films, but this one made me want to see more of them. This film was a very smart industry satire that always kept me surprised. Tim Robbins did a great job in this film as always. And Altman is really good with the camera, I'm not just talking about the opening scene, the whole film was beautifully shot. But I do have one criticism about the film, it seems a bit too smart for its own good. I didn't really like how it was a satire of itself. If the point of the film in the end is how movies like it are dumb, that really cheapens the whole viewing experience for me. But other than that, it was a very entertaining that I really enjoyed and was really well done for most of the way through. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/27/25 Full Review Blu B All Time Classic. A happy cynical meta satire of Hollywood. The opening 8 minute long take is masterful. Altman's direction is superb here. Lots of scenes feel like were watching distantly and all other trademarks of his are here but they never get in the way of a truely masterful mystery. It's not too dark either and it takes the cliches of Hollyood and flips them on there heads as much as embracing them with love and respect. First rate all around. Everyone should give this a try once. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/19/25 Full Review Lynn K Disappointed after great reviews. Found it slow then predictable. After 30 minutes of nothing much happening I’d have quite happily given up but partner thought something might happen ( his review vey the end was a 3). There are many cameo appearances from famous stars to spot which is its redeeming feature Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/23/25 Full Review Peter H Got as far as far as the opening credits. Irritating! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/09/25 Full Review Scandala N Watch it without reading too much about the plot. The twists and turns and surprises are so fun. This is a first-rate (I guess 5 star?!) film. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/04/25 Full Review Ali C I was blown away, wondering how I have never heard of such a great film. You'll love it, you'll hate it, it will hold you until the end. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/10/25 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Robert Altman

Director

Tim Robbins

Griffin Mill

Greta Scacchi

June Gudmundsdottir

Fred Ward

Walter Stuckel

Whoopi Goldberg

Detective Susan Avery

Peter Gallagher

Larry Levy

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The Player

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Movie Info

Synopsis Certain that the anonymous threats he's been receiving are the work of David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), producer Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) tries to fix things over cocktails. Instead, Griffin ends up murdering the screenwriter and courting the dead man's girlfriend (Greta Scacchi). As police investigate, Griffin concentrates on a prestigious film that might reinvigorate his career. But he soon learns that David's demise hasn't been forgotten by everyone in Hollywood.
Director
Robert Altman
Producer
Michael Tolkin, David Brown, Nick Wechsler
Screenwriter
Michael Tolkin
Distributor
Fine Line Features, Criterion Collection
Production Co
Avenue Pictures Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 3, 1992, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 24, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$21.7M
Runtime
2h 3m
Sound Mix
Surround
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