L'amour n'est qu'un jeu

There are just wayyy too many cliches to take this movie seriously, but if you're up for a few laughs, you could do worse than to watch this romp.

This film may perhaps be Anthony Anderson's coming-out movie, because he not just steals the show, he dominates! After playing the bumbling type in both Kingdom Come and Romeo Must Die, here in TCPTG he is the driving force. (Granted, I haven't seen every film he's done, so he might have had other parts that demonstrated his talent; but note that after this movie he did Barbershop and appears lined up to appear in no less than 4 movies in 2003).

And, a tip of the hat to Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson, she's a riot too.

I must admit, I think the significance of The Cosby Show, depicting upwardly-mobile urban black professionals, has played itself out so that we don't need to forcefeed images of rich black people (in this vein, the homey feel of Eddie Murphy's The Klumps as well as his unfortunately discontinued The PJs was ironically refreshing - I wish I could digress fully and explore this thought; if you want to follow up, email me).

Anyway, there are some golden moments in this movie. The first-person narrative was almost irritating at the beginning, but if you can endure the first 10 minutes of it, it is developed nicely into a decent tool to set up some of the coming laughs.

As a romantic comedy, I remember how much I enjoyed The Money Pit; my wife can't see what I see in that film. But, as an 80s comedy, it was both silly yet touching. And then there was the more mature Other People's Money, which had enough business tension that it was almost not a comedy, except for Danny DeVito. In other words, there are many ways in which to approach "the romantic comedy," and as such, there's plenty of room for TCPTG, if you are willing to give it the same slack you might give any other romantic comedy (Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, etc., etc.,).

You know, it sorta sounds like I'm apologizing for this film. In a way, I am, because the elements of it that the average person will notice and have difficult with are the same elements the average person is blind towards in other movies.

Bottom line, for light-hearted fun, you won't be wasting your money to rent it.

This movie had the potential to do something great, but failed. Vivica Fox was decent in her first starring role (was it a starring role?) as Shante. She is a great actress who doesn't get great roles (like most black actresses) but she put accurate effort into the character. The problem was that the movie relied too heavily on Shante's in-your-face-dialogue. And the game itself was a bit too farfetched. Of course women play games, but the lengths Shante went to just to teach Keith a lesson wasn't realistic. And is it just me or was practically everybody from The Brothers in this movie? (Morris Chestnut, Tamala Jones, Gabrielle Union). Good note - Monique was hilarious in her role as she should be. I did like this movie, but it would be nice to see a black movie that doesn't always rely on humor and battle of the sexes-type themes. What I would give to see a serious movie about African-Americans again. Another Soul Food-esque film would be excellent.

This would be standard middle-brow entertainment were it not for three factors that I'll discuss in a little bit. The concept, that women can be as deft "players" of the field as men, is certainly not new to most. It may be new to A level films, and it probably is new to director/producer Mark Brown, the creator of HOW TO BE A PLAYER. But it is not a concept new to almost any B level direct-to-video thriller, anything on Cinemax after 11pm, or to any newspaper. Women have almost always been better players (see Anna Nicole Smith, Leona Helmsley, that maid that married the Johnson & Johnson fortune, and almost all of the guests on either Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, or Ricki Lake). But, this movie does have an easy going pace and sound track that combine to make it as smooth as a ride in Shante's convertible Jaguar. What makes the film stay slightly above average is the presence of the three lead thespians. First of all, let it be said that Anthony Anderson does in fact walk away with this film. He simply owns every second that he is on screen (including the out takes at the end). His natural and easy manner combined with impeccable comic timing simply makes him the de facto owner of the material, the screen, and the film as a whole. Next, Morris Chestnut, whether given a lot or a little (like here) to do simply comes off as likable. And in the main role, few actresses - good looking or not - could carry off the part that Vivica A. Fox plays. The film would not be believable were it not for this particular actresses commanding presence and astonishing good looks. She, like her character, is someone who has worked her looks and her intelligence to get exactly what she wants out of life, and she is not afraid to show it. So, if you go in not expecting too much, you will come out pleasantly surprised. A 7 out of 10.

This is NOT a good movie . Ok Viveca Fox maybe beautiful, but that doesn´t matter when she is totally unlikeable in this role. She plays a very smug woman who thinks very high of herself and can´t believe it when 'her man' suddenly is out with another girl. I got so enormously tired of her lipsmacking, necksnapping and curving of her lips as she tried to convince herself, and me, that noone can treat her this way. I am no fan of the 'look-into-the-camera' kind of storytelling and this film got it a lot. The 'rules' are also very boring: 'no 3', 'day 2', rule four, 'sixth day'. The only really funny parts involved the characters played by Anthony Anderson (I) and Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson Last and not least: What signifies a bad comedy? When the 40-seconds of outtakes in the end is funnier than the movie itself.

This film offers just a bit of insight to the relationship game. This is not really anything new, but it's still entertaining and the acting worked for me. So, don't run out of your way to see it, but if it's on, go ahead and you should enjoy it.