The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)
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Actor: Fred Ward, Greta Scacchi, Peter Gallagher, Tim Robbins, Whoopi GoldbergBrand: NEW Line Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 124 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1997-07-16
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
DVD Reviews of The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)
DVD Review: A smart satire that hits its mark and wins my respect...
Summary: 5 Stars
I know that I really need to see more Altman. I had only seen (up until this weekend) `Gosford Park' and `A Prairie Home Companion', neither of which really impressed me (I liked `Gosford Park'; didn't love it, and `A Prairie Home Companion' was just a mess) but I hear all these great things about him and so I keep telling myself that I need to just load up my Netflix queue with his work and have at it. Anyways, Saturday night I happened to catch `The Player' on IFC while I was up walking my daughter to sleep and since I do happen to enjoy Tim Robbins (magnificent actor) I decided to give it a try. I was immediately drawn in by the opening tracking scene consisting of interloping conversations (all of which were adlibbed) and from then on I was sold.
`The Player' is a satire, so keep that in mind when watching this movie. Satires have a tendency to do one of two extremes for me; they either really nail it or they really blow it. I have yet to find a happy medium. Thankfully `The Player' really nails it, especially as its second half gets underway. The film tells the story of Griffin Mill, a studio executive who doesn't have the greatest of reputations; that is to say that his personality tends to rub some people the wrong way. Proof of this very fact are the many death threats Griffin keeps receiving, threats that start to ware on his sanity. When Griffin thinks he's found the source of these threats he takes impulsive action, action that results in murder, a murder he must then cover up.
After the murder, Griffin's life starts to unravel as he struggles to keep his position at work as well as keep his relationship with girlfriend Bonnie all the while falling for June Gudmundsdottir, the beautiful girlfriend of Griffin's victim. Things become even more complicated when the police begin investigating the murder and it becomes apparent that Griffin killed the wrong man.
`The Player' though is really a movie within a movie, or a plot within a plot. Sure, the dominant plot here revolves around Griffin committing murder and `getting away with it' but the real plot, the real point, is the exposure of the dark side of Hollywood, the backstabbing that takes place within the dog-eat-dog world of corporate politics and business practice; where one day your hot, the next your not and you can't do a thing about it.
The movie, honestly, lives and dies with Tim Robbins, in that without his stellar performance the film would have failed. Robbins is brilliant as Griffin Mill, perfectly grasping his deadpan detachment from his surroundings and then slowly slipping into his selfish and mechanical desperation. I just found so many layers within his seemingly one-note performance. Greta Scacchi is stunning as June. She has an air of mystery that makes it easy to see why Griffin becomes so infatuated with her in the first place. Cynthia Stevenson is also great as Bonnie, witty and funny and charming. Whoopi Goldberg is hilarious (when is she not?) as Detective Susan Avery (I just love that `Oscar' scene; priceless) and Peter Gallagher is effective as Larry Levy, Griffin's office threat. Fred Ward rubbed me wrong here; I just didn't like his humor, and Vincent D'Onofrio's natural nervous demeanor played against him here. I normally love him but I found him a bit too annoying here (but his character is short lived...).
Altman, it must be said, has a wonderful way of placing the pieces of his film together here. I saw it in `Gosford Park' as well, but here to an even greater degree. The film just flows beautifully, from one scene to the next, and he has a way of extracting the right emotions from his scenes. Sometimes those emotions are unexpected, but they are always genuine. Each scene is beautifully crafted, never feeling out of place or pointless.
As a side point of interest, `The Player' has one of the most articulately constructed love scenes I've ever seen in a film. There is nothing truly explicit; in fact the entire scene is one long close up of Tim Robbins' sweaty face, but it is completely titillating. I never thought I'd find Tim Robbins attractive, but that scene is flawlessly exciting. The scene is memorable and truly anticipated and one that adds layers to the relationship budding between the characters.
The script is witty and tightly woven, interesting and engrossing and complimented beautifully by the well rounded performances of the cast. Unlike `Gosford Park' or `A Prairie Home Companion', this is Robbins' movie as apposed to being a true ensemble piece. Yes, there are lots of actors here but none have the weight of Robbins' character thus none deserve the amount of attention he deserves. Robbins' is marvelous here, yet another brilliant performance in his already extensively phenomenal resume. I highly recommend this film for it is fresh and fun and extremely smart.
Description of The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)
PLAYER - DVD MovieA wicked satirical fable about corporate backstabbing--and actual murder--in the movie business, The Player benefits from director Robert Altman's long and bitter experience working within, and without, the Hollywood studio system. Rising young executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is tormented by threats from an anonymous writer. The pressure and paranoia build until Griffin loses control one night and semi-accidentally kills screenwriter David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), who may or may not be the source of the threats. From that point, Griffin's life and career begin to fall apart. In keeping with the ironic spirit of the film itself, Altman's scathingly funny attack on the moral bankruptcy of Hollywood was embraced by many of the same people it was intended to savage, and restored the director to commercial and critical favor. Michael Tolkin adapted the screenplay from his own novel, and the movie is studded with cameos by famous faces, many of whom appear as themselves. The digital video disc includes a commentary track with Altman and Tolkin, some deleted scenes, a documentary about Altman, and a key to help identify more than 50 of the picture's big-name cameos. --Jim Emerson
A wicked satirical fable about corporate backstabbing--and actual murder--in the movie business, The Player benefits from director Robert Altman's long and bitter experience working within, and without, the Hollywood studio system. Rising young executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is tormented by threats from an anonymous writer. The pressure and paranoia build until Griffin loses control one night and semi-accidentally kills screenwriter David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), who may or may not be the source of the threats. From that point, Griffin's life and career begin to fall apart. In keeping with the ironic spirit of the film itself, Altman's scathingly funny attack on the moral bankruptcy of Hollywood was embraced by many of the same people it was intended to savage, and restored the director to commercial and critical favor. Michael Tolkin adapted the screenplay from his own novel, and the movie is studded with cameos by famous faces, many of whom appear as themselves. --Jim Emerson
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