The Player [M]

Griffin Mills is a high-powered Hollywood movie executive: the guy who listens to the pitches of the writers and decides whether their stories can be made into films or not. In his line of work, he is liable to make one or two enemies, but it’s only when he begins to receive threatening postcards from an ignored writer that he begins to become affected by it. Aided by the rumours of a take-over in his office, the postcards successfully drive Mills to breaking point and he tracks down a writer he brushed off and tries to make peace with them, suspecting them to be the harassers. Unfortunately the meeting ends badly with Mills unintentionally killing the writer and, as if this were not enough, the postcards don’t stop. 

What an amazingly and inexorably fantastic film this is! A brilliantly balanced film packed with clever comedy, drama, and sinister thrills, The Player is a wholly remarkable movie and a refreshing and biting non-glamorous look at Hollywood behind the scenes. It’s unutterably fantastic! 

Griffin Mills is a high-powered Hollywood movie executive: the guy who listens to the pitches of the writers and decides whether their stories can be made into films or not. In his line of work, he is liable to make one or two enemies, but it’s only when he begins to receive threatening postcards from an ignored writer that he begins to become affected by it. Aided by the rumours of a take-over in his office, the postcards successfully drive Mills to breaking point and he tracks down a writer he brushed off and tries to make peace with them, suspecting them to be the harassers. Unfortunately the meeting ends badly with Mills unintentionally killing the writer and, as if this were not enough, the postcards don’t stop. 

The screenplay, written by Michael Tolkin from his novel of the same name, is a fantastic piece of work. Based on the thrilling case of blackmail, deception, and murder, the film then is made up of a series of delicious layers, making it a movie that you can see through any genre lens. The film’s refreshing comedy manifests itself in the form of irony, subtle caricatures, and general piss-taking. 

Something that I found really delightful about it was the fact that there are so many celebrity faces and cameos, you literally cannot tell who is playing a character and who is playing themselves. 

And then there is the beginning shot where we see two characters slagging the Hollywood filming method of “cut cut cut” and then relishing in remembering scenes done in long takes, most being un-American movies. The film is filmed this way, with long takes that just focuses and anyone and everyone and it creates a great sense of fluidity as well as depicting the fluctuating hustle and bustle of the Hollywood studios. 

The minor, odd, characters, the overheard conversations, the strange digressions, the layers of dialogue, and the fleeting incidents, those little trivial things is what makes this movie really special and truly marvellous. 

Starring Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Cynthia Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Richard E. Grant, Whoopie Goldberg, Peter Gallagherm Brion James, and featuring the familiar faces of Joel Grey, John Cusack, Angelica Houston, Harry Belafonte, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, Cher, Peter Falk, Teri Garr, Jack Lemmon, Andie MacDowell, Malcolm McDowell, Nick Nolte, Burt Reynolds, Julia Roberts, and Bruce Willis, The Player is a fantastic bit of written and cinematic genius filled with murder, suspense, blackmail, romance, and biting comedy and wit. It’s ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! Watch it!