Movies / The Player (1992)

Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is a Hollywood producer with a studio executive girlfriend Bonnie Sherow (Cynthia Stevenson). Mill's job is to hear story pitches from screenwriters and decide which films have the potential to get made and which films get rejected. His job is suddenly in danger, though, when up-and-comer Larry Levi (Peter Gallagher) begins work at the studio. Rumors swirl that Griffin may be replaced soon by Levi. Griffin has also been receiving threatening postcards, presumably from a disgruntled writer whose pitch he rejected.Griffin delves through records and surmises that the disgruntled writer is David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), who had previously pitched a script to him. Griffin calls Kahane's home and is told by a woman, June (Greta Scacchi), that Kahane is at a movie theatre. Griffin goes to the theatre in Pasadena and offers Kahane a scriptwriting deal, hoping this will stop the threats. However, Kahane gets intoxicated and rebuffs Griffin's offer. He denies that he sent Griffin any postcards. Kahane pushes Griffin in the parking lot and the two men scuffle. In a rage, Griffin accidentally kills Kahane. Thinking fast, Griffin makes the death look like a robbery gone wrong.The next day at work, he receives another postcard, confirming that his stalking writer is still at large. Griffin attends Kahane's funeral and connects with Kahane's girlfriend, June. Studio chief of security Walter Stuckel (Fred Ward) confronts Griffin about the murder and says that Pasadena Police know Griffin was the last one to see Kahane alive. Pasadena detectives Susan Avery (Whoopi Goldberg) and DeLongpre (Lyle Lovett) suspect that Griffin is guilty of murder. They question him and DeLongpre starts to keep an eye on Griffin. The stalking writer leaves a rattlesnake in Griffin's car, causing a near-death experience that makes Griffin realize how he has sudden and deep feelings for June. With his girlfriend Bonnie out of town, Griffin takes June to a Hollywood awards banquet and their relationship grows.Meanwhile, with Levi ever encroaching on his job, Griffin sees an opportunity to save his position. He hears a pitch idea from two writers about a film called Habeas Corpus and instantly recognizes huge problems with the downbeat story. However, he manages to convince Levi that the pitch is golden and the movie will be a guaranteed Oscar contender. Griffin plans to let Levi shepherd the film through production and have it flop miserably. Then Griffin will step in at the last moment and suggest some basic changes to salvage the film's box office potential, letting him reclaim his position at the studio. The Pasadena detectives call Griffin in for a lineup after a witness to Kahane's death comes forward. Griffin catches a big break when the witness identifies the wrong man, Detective DeLongpre, who was placed in the lineup with the other suspects.One year later, studio power players are watching the end of Habeas Corpus with its tacked-on upbeat ending. Griffin's plan to "save" the movie worked like a charm and he is now a studio executive. While driving home, he gets a pitch over the phone from a man who reveals himself as the postcard writer. The man pitches an idea about a studio executive who kills a writer and gets away with murder. Griffin recognizes the pitch as blackmail and immediately agrees to give the writer a deal. The writer's title for the film is The Player. The movie ends by showing that June is now Griffin's wife and pregnant with his child.