The Chaperone

I watched this on Amazon streaming movies. I was attracted to it mainly because it is set and filmed in places I used to live, I am always curious to see how the moviemakers handle that.

It is a theme used many times, a man gets out of prison after 7 years and has to try to get back in the good graces of his family. In this case it is mostly the young daughter who is about 12 years old. Paul Levesque is an imposing man, playing the ex-con Ray Bradstone who his old robbery mates called "Ray-Ray." In prison he has become a changed man and just wants to go by Ray. And get his family back.

Ray's daughter is in school in Lafayette (where I went to college some years back) and her class is taking an overnight trip to New Orleans. Ray quite accidentally gets to be a chaperone, much to the chagrin of his daughter. While the kids are trying to enjoy the field trip Ray is being hounded by his former partners who think he has the money from a botched robbery of the bank in Lafayette the day before.

The arc of the story is pretty predictable but I found it interesting to see how they got there. The movie overall is entertaining enough. Interestingly the daughter is played by Ariel Winter who probably was 12 during filming but doesn't seem to be in the cast credits. She was so small, it was quite a sight to see her standing or walking next to Levesque.

Plus the Lafayette scenes were filmed in Algiers near the bridge, not far from where my wife grew up and went to school, just across the river from downtown New orleans while the New Orleans scenes were filmed in and near downtown and the French Quarter.

Not a bad movie at all, just lightweight.

(Plot) A con filled with regrets is on the run to hide from his troubled past as a criminal. He decides to shield himself by sneaking into his field trip to be The Chaperone.

This wasn't exactly good, but it managed to be a hell of a lot better than I expected. It's fairly genuine in its approach, and Triple H (Paul Levesque) is actually non pretentious and likable, something I can hardly say about him in the WWE. The plot is nothing special and is something we've all seen quite a few times before done in different way. This is the type of family affair that most families will most likely groove to. It has just enough action to do an adequate job for adults, and its innocuous storyline will be just perfect for kids. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's really not that bad of a film. It's well made for the most part, and the cast is rather solid as well. Triple H proves he can be likable after all. He gets lots of digs taken at him for this, but he wasn't too bad at all. Ariel Winter is as cute as a button and she and Triple H play off one another well as Father & Daughter. Winter got on my nerves a couple times with her snotty attitude, but considering the circumstances, it was understandable.

Final Thoughts: It's not something I'm going to watch again. I don't care for Triple H at all, but I give credit where credit is due when it is deserved. It pains me to say this, but it's really not as horrible as you've been lead to believe.

5/10

First off, this type of film probably wouldn't have usually appealed to me but as a wrestling and Triple H fan in my younger days I thought I'd give it a go.

I wasn't expecting too much here but actually found this to be quite funny and entertaining. You really can't take this movie too seriously, it's just a bit of fun.

I thought Paul Levesque actually acted quite well and came out with some funny lines.

All in all a light hearted action film that will probably be enjoyed mainly by wrestling fans who actually know who Paul Levesque is. I think that's partly what made it more enjoyable for me to see Triple H in a different way.

Decent enough entertainment so give it a go.

Well this movie was somewhat of a surprise. Who knew that WWE could come up with something straight out of the Disney family movie production drawer?

The story is pretty simple and straight forward. Ray Bradstone (played by Paul Levesque) comes out from prison after 7 years of incarceration, and wants to reacquaint himself with his estranged daughter Sally (played by Ariel Winter). But friends from his old criminal past manage to convince Ray to do one more job. Then things get mixed up and turn complicated.

The cast in the movie did a good job with their roles, and I must admit that despite his wrestling career, then Paul Levesque actually did a good job with that role. And of course this movie, being a family movie, have lots of stereotypical characters in it.

"The Chaperone" is good entertainment for kids and adults alike.

An ex-con is trying to go straight and be a good dad to his daughter. He agrees to chaperone his daughter's class field trip. However two criminal associates of his chase after him and hijinks ensue. This is a lukewarm attempt by pro wrestler Paul Levesque (aka Triple H) to follow the Rock into making family movies like The Tooth Fairy. It's not bad for what it is but I was kind of surprised to find it wasn't made for television. Levesque is perfectly fine in his role. He does nothing to impress or offend. It's nothing special but kids and people wanting to watch innocuous 'action' movies might like it. Also I guess big wrestling fans might like it.