History Literature / ThePlayer

* FocusGroupEnding: InUniverse. Tom Oakley uses this justification for changing the DownerEnding of ''Habeas Corpus.''
* {{Foil}}: Bonnie to Griffin. Put simply: she's a smart, kind, lovable, professional... [[CorruptCorporateExecutive and he's Griffin]].

* CreatorInJoke: "Let's Begin Again", the song being sung at the karaoke bar, was a song that Altman had written lyrics for back in TheForties, and it was part of a never-produced stage musical that he and a friend put together. It had previously been performed in his 1979 film ''[=HealtH=]'', putting it also into CallBack and RunningGag territory.

* JustForFun/XMeetsY: The pitches Griffin hears inevitably get simplified into something familiar, like "''Film/PrettyWoman'' meets ''Film/OutOfAfrica''" or "''Film/{{Ghost}}'' meets ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate''." Altman said that these were [[SelfDeprecation poking fun]] at his own use of ''{{Film/Nashville}}'' as a reference point when he was trying to pitch ''Film/ShortCuts'' to studio execs.

* CreatorCareerSelfDeprecation: This movie shows that Hollywood is willing to poke fun at themselves. Naturally it was directed by a more independent cineaste: Creator/RobertAltman. Altman later said that he was surprised people took this film as a "serious" satire. Altman saw it as a mild comedy and that he went gently on Hollywood (He didn't show the agents for instance) because he was in a good mood. As he says, "the real Hollywood is ''much'' worse."

* WriteWhatYouKnow: In-universe. When David brings Griffin to the Japanese bar in Pasadena, he explains that he used to live in Japan for a year, as a student. Then he reminds Griffin about his story pitch : a student going to Japan.

* ButtMonkey: ** [[spoiler:Bonnie, full stop. Griffin leaves her for the younger, blonder and hotter June without bothering to tell her; she's the sole voice for artistic merit in the eternal "art versus profit" argument the studio execs keep having (universally unsuccessfully) and when she takes Tom Oakley (quite properly) to task for changing the ending of ''Habeas Corpus'' she gets fired for her troubles. The last shot of her in the film is her crying on the staircase outside; completely alone in the world.]]

* FocusGroupEnding: Tom Oakley uses this justification for changing the DownerEnding of ''Habeas Corpus.''

** Tim Robbins, who would later co-star with Julia Roberts in ''Film/PretAPorter''. Also, making a cameo in this movie are Creator/SusanSarandon, with whom Robbins was married to at the time, and Creator/JohnCusack, who co-starred with a young Tim Robbins in ''Film/TheSureThing'' and ''Tapeheads''.

* Foil: Bonnie to Griffin. Put simply: she's a smart, kind, lovable, professional... [[CorruptCorporateExecutive and he's Griffin]].

* TropaholicsAnonymous: Larry Levy mentions attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, not because he has a drinking problem, but because that's where all the deals are being made.

[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ThePlayer_1417.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:270:It's a satiric cynical thriller comedy...with a heart.]]

A 1988 satirical novel by Michael Tolkin, ''The Player'' was brought to the screen in 1992 by Creator/RobertAltman with a screenplay also by Tolkin. The film version starred Creator/TimRobbins, Creator/VincentDOnofrio, Creator/GretaScacchi, Creator/PeterGallagher and a '''ton''' of stars as themselves.

The film is incredibly self-referential that attacks the film industry and the DevelopmentHell each film has to go through to get made. It drops you into the social atmosphere of Hollywood and is ultimately an inverted murder mystery, with a man worried about his evil act being discovered.

* CelebrityCameo: Tons and tons of them: Music/HarryBelafonte, Creator/GaryBusey, Music/{{Cher}}, Creator/JamesCoburn, Creator/AnjelicaHuston, Creator/JohnCusack, Creator/MartinMull, Creator/PeterFalk, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/MalcolmMcDowell, Creator/JackLemmon, Creator/MarleeMatlin, Creator/NickNolte, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/JuliaRoberts, Creator/SusanSarandon, Kathy Ireland, Creator/AndieMacDowell, Creator/LilyTomlin, Creator/DavidCarradine, Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/ElliottGould, Creator/ScottGlenn, Creator/RobertWagner, Creator/KarenBlack, Creator/TeriGarr, Creator/JoelGrey Creator/RodSteiger... and those are just a handful of the ''actors''. Appearances are also made by well-known producers, screenwriters, and directors. Most of whom worked for nothing; if they were charged their normal asking prices, the film's budget would've exceeded $100 million.

* CelebrityCameo: Tons and tons of them: Music/HarryBelafonte, Creator/GaryBusey, Music/{{Cher}}, Creator/JamesCoburn, Creator/AnjelicaHuston, Creator/JohnCusack, Creator/MartinMull, Creator/PeterFalk, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/MalcolmMcDowell, Creator/JackLemmon, Creator/MarleeMatlin, Creator/NickNolte, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/JuliaRoberts, Creator/SusanSarandon, Kathy Ireland, Creator/AndieMacDowell, Creator/LilyTomlin, Creator/DavidCarradine, Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/ElliottGould, Creator/ScottGlenn, Creator/RobertWagner, Creator/KarenBlack, Creator/TeriGarr, Creator/JoelGrey...and those are just a handful of the ''actors''. Appearances are also made by well-known producers, screenwriters, and directors. Most of whom worked for nothing; if they were charged their normal asking prices, the film's budget would've exceeded $100 million.

* HighConcept: Set in the film industry, this is now a textbook for how to make film pitches.
--> '''Griffin:''' Twenty-five words or less.

* DefiniteArticleTitle

A 1988 satirical novel by Michael Tolkin, ''The Player'' was brought to the screen in 1992 by Creator/RobertAltman with a screenplay also by Tolkin. The film version starred Creator/TimRobbins, Creator/VincentDOnofrio, Greta Scacchi, Peter Gallagher and a '''ton''' of stars as themselves.

* CelebrityCameo: Tons and tons of them: Music/HarryBelafonte, Creator/GaryBusey, Music/{{Cher}}, Creator/JamesCoburn, Creator/AnjelicaHuston, Creator/JohnCusack, Creator/MartinMull, Creator/PeterFalk, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/MalcolmMcDowell, Creator/JackLemmon, Creator/MarleeMatlin, Creator/NickNolte, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/JuliaRoberts, Creator/SusanSarandon, Kathy Ireland, Andie [=MacDowell=], Creator/LilyTomlin, Creator/DavidCarradine, Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/ElliottGould, Creator/ScottGlenn, Creator/RobertWagner, Creator/KarenBlack, Creator/TeriGarr, Creator/JoelGrey... and those are just a handful of the ''actors''. Appearances are also made by well-known producers, screenwriters, and directors. Most of whom worked for nothing; if they were charged their normal asking prices, the film's budget would've exceeded $100 million.
* CelebrityParadox: A notable number of recognizable actors [[CelebrityCameo appear in the film]] [[AsHimself as themselves]]. Notably at the end (delivering the punch line to the movie's main BrickJoke) are Creator/BruceWillis and Creator/JuliaRoberts. No mention is made of the film's principal actors, notably:

* DoubleMeaningTitle: InUniverse, in another context, the literal translation of the proposed "LawProcedural" ''Habeas Corpus'' ("produce the corpse") is a play on Griffin's job as a film producer and "corpse" being a slang term in the industry for a film that performs poorly, signifying that the screenwriters are, in fact, pitching a completely ludicrous idea for a movie that has no chance of being successful. Griffin points out the absurdity of it all when he notes that Tom Oakley's pitch distinctly lacks a [[ThreeActStructure Second Act]]; in the originally proposed story, there wouldn't be any meaningful development of the plot or its main character (the District Attorney) until after [[ShockingSwerve a sudden plot twist]] near the very conclusion. Later [[ExecutiveMeddling studio changes]] after the film gets produced only take an already absurd premise (for a movie) and make it even stranger.

* CelebrityCameo: Tons and tons of them: Music/HarryBelafonte, Creator/GaryBusey, Music/{{Cher}}, Creator/JamesCoburn, Creator/AnjelicaHuston, Creator/JohnCusack, Martin Mull, Creator/PeterFalk, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/MalcolmMcDowell, Creator/JackLemmon, Marlee Matlin, Creator/NickNolte, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/JuliaRoberts, Creator/SusanSarandon, Kathy Ireland, Andie [=MacDowell=], Creator/LilyTomlin, Creator/DavidCarradine, Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/ElliottGould, Creator/ScottGlenn, Creator/RobertWagner, Creator/KarenBlack, Creator/TeriGarr... and those are just a handful of the ''actors''. Appearances are also made by well-known producers, screenwriters, and directors. Most of whom worked for nothing; if they were charged their normal asking prices, the film's budget would've exceeded $100 million.

* TheTheTitle