The Player

Summary

“I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to remove the writer from the artistic process. If we could just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we’ve got something there.”

In the early Eighties, Robert Altman had hit a tough patch in his career with the back to back failures of Quintet (1979) and Popeye (1980.) After his amazing output in the late Sixties and early Seventies, Altman had proven himself less and less bankable as a Director to the Studios. Throughout the Eighties he made a few theatrical films, a couple TV movies, and the television series Tanner ‘88. In 1992, Robert Altman came back onto the scene with two of his most beloved films – The Player (1992) and Short Cuts (1993.) For The Player, Altman worked with novelist Michael Tolkin to adapt his book for the big screen. Altman enlisted a veritable who’s-who of Hollywood talent to drop into the film in small cameos to give the film an air of reality (or at least heightened reality.) The film was given a large budget by Altman film standards ($8 million) and Altman delivered a film that made a significant return at the box office ($28.9 million) which earned Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing. Fans of Altman’s films have long held it up as one of the director’s most enjoyable efforts. I count myself as a fan of the film and the director, and last night I decided to revisit the film for the first time in a few years. I rewatched Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray of the film which they released in 2016.

Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is a studio executive working for a studio run by Joel Levison (Brion James.) The studio’s slogan reads, “Movies! Now more than ever!” Griffin continuously meets with screenwriters who pitch him stories in hopes of having their ideas turned into feature films. As the film begins, Griffin listens to legendary screenwriter Buck Henry pitch a terrible idea for The Graduate 2, and the plot would feature Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson having suffered a stroke. This was at a time when pitches from writers were landing people million dollar deals on the spot. Griffin casually dates one of his story editors, Bonnie Sherow (Cynthia Stevenson.) A disgruntled writer is sending Griffin cryptic postcards that alert Griffin that his life is endangered. Griffin begins to cycle through the many people that he has not been able to fulfill promises to over the years. His intuition leads him to believe that the possible assailant could be screenwriter David Kahane (Vincent D’Onofrio.) Griffin makes his way out to the home of Griffin and while peaking through the windows he speaks to Griffin’s attractive artist girlfriend June Gudmundsdottir (Greta Scacchi) to ascertain his whereabouts. Griffin is at the Rialto movie theater watching Bicycle Thieves, so Griffin drives out and enters the theater with the goal of winning over David. In the lobby, Griffin offers David a scriptwriting deal and they go to a local bar. The conversation becomes heated as David accuses Griffin of being a phony and an empty suit. When they walk out to David’s car, David pushes Griffin and Griffin falls a couple feet down into a descending rampway. Seeing that he has gone too far, David jumps down to assist Griffin and Griffin assaults him and drowns David in a shallow puddle saying “keep it to yourself!” Griffin stages the area to look like a robbery and flees the scene of the crime. When Griffin receives a fax from his stalker the next day, he realizes that he has killed the wrong man. While juggling the investigation of David’s death led by Detective Susan Avery (Whoopi Goldberg,) Griffin begins to interact with June and finds himself becoming infatuated with her. Griffin also must watch out for a talented up and coming studio executive named Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher) who is climbing the ranks quickly, while keeping his stalker at bay and the police off his scent.

The Player is one of the best Los Angeles based comedy-dramas to be made in the Nineties. The script by Michael Tolkin is very clever and its takedown of the moral inequities of Hollywood (while not exactly a difficult target) is written with an acidic pen that satirizes while never straying far from reality. The mechanics of the plot are brought to screen with some of Altman’s most impressive direction. Working with cinematographer Jean Lepine, Altman achieved some of his most impressive shots including a seven and a half minute tracking shot that opens the film without any cuts. That shot is impressive for numerous reasons but serves a purpose of introducing many of the key players in the film and setting the stage well for the plot ahead. The shot apparently took a half day to rehearse and a day to film, which actually put the production four days ahead while creating something interesting. Jean Lepine’s cinematography is successful and helps The Player stand as one of Altman’s better looking films. Fans of Altman’s prior work will be happy to see that the Nashville director would basically do the same panoramic realization of Los Angeles within The Player and Short Cuts. I think it is best to view those two films together in context of truly painting a scene of Los Angeles that feels lived in and real. They pair well together partially because Altman had been pursuing the production of Short Cuts when he was offered The Player. 

The Player features a strong performance by Tim Robbins as the beleaguered Griffin Mill. He plays the role with the right attitude and presence. He carries himself like someone who has dined at the best restaurants, driven the best cars, and had the best that life can offer for so long and will do anything to keep it. As Griffin finds his way through his situation, it is difficult to root against him despite the fact that he has killed someone who had so much less than himself and then pursued his girlfriend. You shouldn’t want to see him succeed, but Tim Robbins is still likable somehow. The film makes a good point of showing just how brutal Hollywood is and how little it cares for those at the bottom of the gigantic pyramid scheme. The next best performance in the film is Peter Gallagher as the scrappy Larry Levy. I really like the way that Gallagher made this character seem so vacuous yet so sure of himself and his opinions. The character seems all too real. Whoopi Goldberg also does a good job in the role of Detective Avery. She plays the role more subtly than was typical of her other performances. Richard E. Grant and Dean Stockwell are both given very funny roles in the film. Vincent D’Onofrio is always believable in his roles and he does not break his streak here as the enraged David Kaplan. The film has an incredible cavalcade of cameos from actors playing themselves including Malcolm McDowell, John Cusack, Angelica Huston, Burt Reynolds, Buck Henry, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Jack Lemmon, and tons more. Altman managed to convince all of these actors to come in and act in minor moments in the picture for free to lend the film a special air. It is impressive that he was able to pull that off.

As it stands, The Player ranks as one of Robert Altman’s most enjoyable films. It ushered in one of Altman’s best patches in his career. The film helped him to receive funding for more films until the day he passed away and was an inspiration to younger directors. Like many of Altman’s films, the film does well under repeat viewings.

Video

Criterion did a solid job on the brand new 4K digital transfer of the film. The movie looks reference quality. That said, Altman’s techniques he used involved setting up shots once he arrived on set, which did not lend itself to extremely detailed looking presentations. For this film Altman worked with cinematographer Jean Lepine and the film has a well maintained focus and good visual approach. It is one of Altman’s more striking efforts and translates well to Blu-ray.

Audio

This is a well done DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. While not the most immersive track in the world, the dialogue and score come through well and clearly. Altman’s trademark wandering dialogue style is represented well on the track. There is nothing to complain about here.

Supplements

• Commentary – one of the best aspects of the Criterion edition of The Player is the inclusion of this commentary track from 1992 that was recorded originally for the Criterion Laser Disk release. Director Robert Altman, writer Michael Tolkin, and cinematographer Jean Lepine discuss their work on the film.
• Trailers and TV Spots – 
• 1. U.S. Trailer 
• 2. Japanese Trailer.
• 3. TV Spots
• Opening Shot – the opening shot is presented with two optional commentaries
• 1. Robert Altman Commentary 
• 2. Michael Tolkin and Jean Lepine Commentary
• Deleted Scenes/Outtakes
• Map to the Stars – this interactive scrolling guide helps to identify the wealth of stars that appear in the film in shot foregrounds and backgrounds. 
• Robert Altman’s Players – this is a short documentary that was filmed during the making of the fundraiser sequence. Altman and his crew made the filming an actual event that benefitted the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on July 20, 1991. This is mainly of interest to see Altman and his staff working through ways of filming the event while the event is carried out.
• Cannes Press Conference – Director Robert Altman, Tim Robins, Brion James, Whoopi Goldberg, Dina Merrill, writer Michael Tolkin, and production designer Stephen Altman give a Q & A at Cannes.
• Robert Altman – in this interview filmed for Criterion in 1992, director Robert Altman discusses how The Player was produced, the casting of Tim Robbins and Whoopi Goldberg, and numerous aspects of how the film was made. Like the audio commentary, this piece has become even more valuable since the death of the director in 2006.
• Planned Improvisation – in this brand new piece, screenwriter Michael Tolkin, production designer Stephen Altman, associate producer David Levy, and Tim Robbins discuss their work on The Player. I love when novelists are interviewed regarding the way that their work was translated to the screen, and Tolkin is really engaging while discussing the differences between the novel and film – many of which, he appreciates. Tim Robbins discusses how he landed the role and how he turned down an easy million dollar film offer to work with Altman. Stephen Altman discusses the creative process of his late father who he worked with on thirteen projects. This is well worth your time.

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 5/5

The Player remains one of Robert Altman’s most successful and best loved films. The film a well-written take-down of the Hollywood machine and how it devours those least able to protect themselves. Tim Robbins gives a great performance in the film and is surrounded by an incredible array of talented actors (many of which playing themselves in brief cameos) which lends the film an air of realism that would be impossible to duplicate without a reputation like Robert Altman had. The film was rightfully nominated for three Academy Awards. The Criterion Collection Blu-ray features one of the best array of supplements assembled for a Criterion disc, a strong visual transfer, and good audio. Fans of the film should be more than pleased that Criterion Collection were the stewards for this release. Highly recommended.