Cinephile No. 990 “The Player”

Recommendation: 3/5 STREAM 

Plot: “A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected, but which one?” -IMDB 

Review: There have been countless movies about Hollywood and the business behind all the glitz and glamour of the big screen. No film has been as hyper aware of that fact as The Player starring Tim Robbins as Griffin Mill and a cast of characters and cameos that could fill this entire page.  

Beyond the business of making movies, this is also a mystery. See, a disgruntled writer is sending Griffin threatening and ominous postcards. Why? Because Griffin promised him or her, he would get back to them on a pitch and never did. This plot coupled with this film’s examination of what it takes to make motion pictures move together in a delicate dance that is both hilarious and fascinating.  

As Griffin assembles the clues, the harassment, flow of business, and hustle, it requires holding everything together only intensifies. With someone in mind, Griffin crosses a line which cannot be uncrossed. Working to cover up his unspeakable act only ramps up the anxiety he is feeling at home and at work.  

But there is no rest for the wicked. Pitches and pictures must continue to be made. With business never seeming to end, we watch Griffin’s personal torture grow. As this film enters its third act, we wrestle with Griffin’s guilt, questions about his future, and whether he even got the right guy.  

Zooming out further, we realize all the tropes, signs, and elements of this film want us to see. This movie wants us to poke holes in the way Hollywood does business. It wants us to see the pitch process, the recycling of ideas, the blame when movies fail, and the ridiculousness of it. When you finally realize this is a movie within a movie, everything before it clicks and makes perfect sense.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan