- Release Date: 1992
- Runtime: 124 min
- Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Starring: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg ... see all
- Director: Robert Altman
- Plot: A studio script screener gets on the bad side of a writer by not accepting his script. The writer is sending him threatening postcards. The screener tries to identify the... Read more
User Reviews
A movie for movie fans
Sep 17, 2007
AdnanZ - imdb.com
Sep 17, 2007AdnanZ - imdb.com
During Robert Altman's "The Player" the criteria for a good Hollywood movie are established by the lead character: "Suspense, laughter, violence, hope, heart, nudity, sex, and happy endings, mainly happy endings". If you look close enough you'll find all of... Full review
I didn't like the movie
Aug 27, 2007
cjsm250 - yahoo.com
Aug 27, 2007cjsm250 - yahoo.com
This movie just didn't work for me. I respect Altman as a director, but not this particular effort. Lots of cameos by big stars was nice, but I just didn't like the story. This is not my kind of movie. I... Full review
Weak story ruins it
Apr 04, 2007
danielcharchuk - yahoo.com
Apr 04, 2007danielcharchuk - yahoo.com
When it's a smart and funny look at the dark side of Hollywood, it's at its best. The numerous celebrity cameos, the sharp humour, and the in-jokes to other movies are all great and make it worthwhile. Unfortunately, that's not the... Full review
Great for film buffs...
Aug 25, 2006
a_taste_of_ink - yahoo.com
Aug 25, 2006a_taste_of_ink - yahoo.com
This wasn't the greatest movie I had ever seen in my lifetime, in fact I could probably name 50 more that I would watch over this one, but all in all it wasn't that bad. It mainly deals with the inside... Full review
Just re-visited this & still love it
May 05, 2006
pwalker-13 - imdb.com
May 05, 2006pwalker-13 - imdb.com
I just went back and watched this again after many years and still find it one of the best movies ever made about movies. This "movie within a movie" has it all. Suspense, drama, comedy, great and numerous cameos, and... Full review
the reality of the making of the un-reality of Hollywood
Apr 02, 2006
Filmjack3 - imdb.com
Apr 02, 2006Filmjack3 - imdb.com
Once The Player's end credits rolled, I was shaken, but in the kind of way that you are when you hear a really sly, long joke by someone who knows what they're telling is not hysterical but still has a... Full review
Insidiously clever dark comedy
Nov 13, 2005
mstomaso - imdb.com
Nov 13, 2005mstomaso - imdb.com
Robert Altman gets under my skin. His films are worthy of great respect, yet they are frequently as irritating as they are brilliant. The Player is, as much as Short Cuts, a quintessential Altman film. It is also one of... Full review
Tinseltown Memoirs
Oct 18, 2005
Lechuguilla - imdb.com
Oct 18, 2005Lechuguilla - imdb.com
Screen writing is a craft, one of many in Hollywood that builds or supports the towering edifice upon which our glamorous "stars" ... sit. Without a screenplay, actors, directors, and others in Hollywood might otherwise grovel for beans and potatoes... Full review
Outstanding
Jul 15, 2005
hit_miss123 - yahoo.com
Jul 15, 2005hit_miss123 - yahoo.com
This film was made by the master of horror: Wes Craven. It was a good original classic teen horror movie. Although its sequels are not so good, this is the movie that started it all. The story was an A+, the... Full review
Classic referred to by journalists, reviewers...has entered the lexicon
Jul 13, 2005
Alice Copeland Brown - imdb.com
Jul 13, 2005Alice Copeland Brown - imdb.com
Robert Altman performed a great service to us movie fans with this movie. We are able to see the brutish way the studios treat their writers....and don't find it difficult to believe that some writer would want to murder the... Full review
Critics Reviews
| Feb 02, 2009Film Journal International
Evincing a universality and cross-cultural appeal that your average People Weekly reader could relate to, it's reminiscent of Robert Altman's The Player , which bitingly peeled back Hollywood's curtain to show how the sausages are made, and All About Eve , in which a calculating ingénue peeled back her own curtain and whatever else she needed to peel in order to be famous. ... Full Review
| Apr 17, 2002The Age
The Player (based on Michael Tolkin's novel of the same name) opens with a clapboard followed closely by Walter the security chief's humorous and ironic diatribe concerning camera technique.
The audience's discomfort is added to by the disturbing overlay of various characters' conversations and the constantly roving camera.
... Full Review
| Apr 17, 2002The Age
The Player (based on Michael Tolkin's novel of the same name) opens with a clapboard followed closely by Walter the security chief's humorous and ironic diatribe concerning camera technique.
The audience's discomfort is added to by the disturbing overlay of various characters' conversations and the constantly roving camera.
... Full Review
| Jan 01, 2002CultureCartel.com
Synopsis The Player still seems fresh after eight years shows this is a film that will hold up as long as Hollywood continues its usual practices.
More movie fans should appreciate Altman as well in The Player he allows you to enjoy the experience without insulting your intelligence.
... Full Review
| Jun 25, 1992The Guardian
As for the film-making itself, The Player isn't perhaps the best-looking movie Altman has managed.
The film is better than that.
This is not so much Michael Tolkin's book, good as it was.
... Full Review
News
DVDs With Dean: Week Of February 22nd
popculturezoo.com –
2009-02-22
This was a light week for DVDs so I imagine it is a historically weak sales date or someone would have challenged for your spending cash. ... Full Article
The Aspects of Making a Film: Storyboards, Shooting Scripts and Shot Lists
associatedcontent.com –
2009-02-06
StoryboardA storyboard, or simply board, has each shot drawn on one side of the page, with the script material it covers, dialogue, action, objects: and so on, on the other side. ... Full Article
News Good Morning, News!!
portlandmercury.com –
2009-01-16
MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON!!! The only question remaining: How long the media can string this story out? KIM JONG IL SONG: NOT RACIST BECAUSE FUNNY... ... Full Article
PLAYER, THE: DVD
urbancinefile.com.au –
2008-09-04
A wonderful satire on Hollywood, The Player is one of Robert Altman's most enjoyable films. This tantalising thriller coated with Hollywood sugar, gives an insider's guide to the movie business, the acting scene and the action behind the scenes. Besides, ... Full Article
Oscar Winners - the complete list
theage.com.au –
2008-02-15
Help
associatedcontent.com –
2008-01-21
If you've ever seen the movie "The Player" then you know the opening sequence is one of the best ever shot. In fact, the opening is better than any action movie ever filmed since there's a lot of action going... ... Full Article

The Player opening scene
TRAILER - The Player (1992)
#844) THE PLAYER (1992) Revised
The Long Take: The Player


