Well, we made it. A year-long bi-weekly journey through the featured Letterboxd Lists. But fear not, these reviews will remain a staple in 2025. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, there’s still one final review for this year. Coming from the Independent Spirit Awards – Best Feature list we have one that has been on my personal watchlist for quite some time…The Player (1992).
Title: The Player
Director: Robert Altman
Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
Released: April 3, 1992 (United States, Sweden, and Norway)
Available to stream on: MAX and The Criterion Channel
Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is a Hollywood studio exec who spends his days listening to countless pitches from screenwriters. He’s expected to sift through thousands of ideas each year, picking just a handful to turn into movies. While his job isn’t in immediate danger, his recent performance has his boss looking for alternatives. The solution? Well, Griffin is paired with Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), an ambitious up-and-coming executive in his own right. However, Griffin and Larry could not be more different. Griffin believes in letting writers tell their stories, while Larry wants to ditch the writers altogether and rely on the studio’s resources.
If that wasn’t enough of a headache to deal with, Griffin also starts receiving strange postcards with death threats. He figures it’s from a writer he rejected, but with thousands of rejections under his belt, he can’t pin down who it might be.
With zero evidence to support his theory, Griffin zeroes in on David Kahane (Vincent D’Onofrio). He tracks down David’s girlfriend, June (Greta Scacchi), who tells him David is at the Rialto Theater in Pasadena. Griffin heads there, pretending to casually recognize David in the lobby. They go for drinks, and things quickly go south.
As they’re leaving the bar, the two men argue. David shoves Griffin, and Griffin falls. In a moment of rage, Griffin retaliates, “accidentally” drowning David in a shallow puddle. The next day, Griffin gets news from Walter (Fred Ward), the studio’s head of security, that the Pasadena police are all over the murder, and Griffin is their prime suspect.
Minutes after receiving news he’s now a murder suspect, he gets a fax from his stalker. Turns out David wasn’t the one sending the threats. Now Griffin has to deal with being a murder suspect, track down his real stalker, and try to stop Larry Levy from stealing his job…all while keeping the truth about what happened to David Kahane a secret that never sees the light of day.
Robert Altman’s filmography is one that I am not all that familiar with. Prior to The Player, the only film of his I’d seen was 1996’s Kansas City which I found to have a lot of potential but the parts never managed to come together. Well, I am now one-for-two with Altman films because he won me over here.
Altman is able to create organized chaos all throughout. People talking over each other, handshake deals being made while en route to other meetings, we are given a fly on the wall perspective of the hectic day in the life of a movie executive. Within all the chaos, Altman never hesitates to drop little jokes to poke fun of the very industry he’s a part of.
One of the biggest reasons this film works for me is the cast, starting with Tim Robbins. He plays Griffin Mill in a way that has you wanting to root for him while simultaneously despising him for his actions and behaviors. The ensemble cast steps up and also delivers in spades. From Gallagher to Lyle Lovett and Whoopi Goldberg as Pasadena police detectives, everyone excels in their role no matter how large or small it might be. Shoot even Burt Reynolds, Julia Roberts, and Bruce Willis get in on the fun, and I’m still leaving out a laundry list of recognizable names and faces.
The Player (1992) is a satiric look at the dirty underbelly of Hollywood. It doesn’t matter if you love your job in the industry, because it will chew you up and spit you out in pursuit of the next big thing. What is truly important is power, who has it, and how far they’re willing to go in order to keep it.
Luckily, the messaging never gets heavy-handed to the point of distracting you from the story. Whether you are a fan of the movie industry, have worked in it, or happen to have zero interest in it whatsoever and just enjoy a good thriller, there’s something here for you.
If you’ve yet to see The Player (1992), do yourself a favor and fix that.
Well, now I want to hear from you.
If you’ve seen The Player (1992), tell me what your thoughts on it are in the comments below or by reaching out to me on Bluesky!
As always, stay up to date with everything else that I’ve been watching over on my Letterboxd page.