Love Coach

Just saw Playing for Keeps at a preview screening last night. Few script surprises in this stock-standard romantic comedy. If you didn't see the end coming in the first 20 minutes, you weren't paying attention. Still, a pleasant date night diversion nonetheless.

Direction and photography were above average. All the actors played their parts up to the very limits of the script. Gerard Butler was quite believable in his role as the womanizing ex- soccer star ready to be a grownup. Female members of the audience voiced their approval of him right on cue throughout the movie. His lifelong real-world enthusiasm for soccer (particularly the Celtics) shone though in quite a number of scenes.

The entourage of swooning soccer moms was also a treat to watch. Judy Greer stole the show in her role as Barb. Her mercurial mood changes were simply hilarious. Dennis Quaid's turn as a mysteriously wealthy local businessman and paranoid husband was a hoot. I can't recall many roles he's played that offered the peculiar mix of affable good guy/sinister bad guy seen here.

Not a chance you'll see this film on stage at Oscar time, but it's worth the price of admission. Recommended.

¨How do you get to meet so many hot women? –I have an accent.¨

Director Gabriele Muccino has been successful in the past (The Pursuit of Happiness and Seven Pounds), but in Playing for Keeps he seems to have lost his touch. Everything that can go wrong in a movie goes wrong here with a very formulaic and cliché script, a predictable story, and some over the top performances. Dennis Quaid seems to be playing the same role he played in What to Expect When Your Expecting with a very eccentric approach that hurts the movie even more and presents it in a very cartoonish way. Gerard Butler is another talented actor who seems to have lost his touch as well in the recent years with some bad films. Not even the beautiful and talented ladies (Catherine Zeta Jones, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, and Judy Greer) were enough to save this terrible movie. The main problem was its script which was written by Robbie Fox who hadn't written a screenplay since 1994 (the terrible In The Army Now) and shouldn't have even considered making a comeback. What I can say about this film is that despite not being funny it is tolerable. It is not one of those films that bore you to death; but it is completely predictable and cliché. I wouldn't say this is completely a family friendly film despite the happy ending considering the main character is kind of a playboy. Despite the interesting cast this film is completely lazy and empty.

The story centers on George (Gerard Butler) a successful soccer player who played in important clubs across Europe and ended his career in the MLS. He hasn't had the same success in his retirement and has failed in a couple of business enterprises. George decides to move to Virginia where his ex-wife, Stacie (Jessica Biel), lives along with their young son Lewis (Noah Lomax). He wants to be a better father and therefore moves close to their home so he can spend some more time with him. Stacie is living with her fiancé, Matt (James Tupper), and they both agree that George be closer to Lewis. While George is trying to find a job as a sports anchor, he begins coaching his son's soccer team. Since he was a well known player all the parents agree he should coach the team and they are all exited that he has decided to be involved, especially the moms which include Patti (Uma Thurman), Denise (Catherine Zeta Jones), and Barb (Judy Greer). Barb is an emotional recently divorced mother, Denise is a former successful TV anchor who offers to help George in achieving his goal, and Patti is a seductive woman who is married to the rich, but manic, Carl (Dennis Quaid). George's soccer career might be over, but he finds quite a local fan base as a coach. His success with the ladies continues, but he doesn't want that to be a distraction as he becomes more and more involved in the life of his son. He also discovers that he has feelings for Stacie, and we all know where this film is heading from there.

There is not much more I can say about this extremely formulaic film. Don't be fooled by this family friendly film because it is kind of creepy in a way with the main character having all these moms stocking him. The impressive cast isn't enough to save this film since it has a terrible script and the performances were really lazy. Jessica Biel received a Razzie nomination for her performance in this film along with her work in Total Recall, but who I think was really terrible here was Dennis Quaid. The only believable thing about the film was the soccer choreographies which were done really well. They didn't seem as fake as in some other soccer movies. This is a very forgettable film, but it was tolerable and some of my family members had a good time.

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I came, I sat, I watched and... well that's about it. I don't have anything bad to say about the movie, but I don't really have anything good to say about it either. Playing for keeps was a pleasant enough love story, but there really wasn't much there to hold my attention. Maybe if I was a HUGE soccer fan... but probably not.

The story was about a man, George (Gerard Butler), who screwed up his marriage and is trying to win back both his wife and son. Butler and Biel (who plays the ex-wife Stacie) both put in a good performance  but I didn't feel any chemistry between them. The only character I felt any connection with was the kid, Lewis (Noah Lomax).

Throughout the movie we kept hearing about how exciting and fun George was, but I failed to see it. Dennis Quaid does put in a fantastic performance as the reprehensible Carl.

Romantic comedy. Say it with me. Romantic comedy. Former star athlete, broken marriage, cute kid. Lots of sexual tension. I wanted to laugh at the many of what I thought were funny lines, but I wasn't feeling it from the rest of the audience. Although the movie was entertaining, there was something lacking in the script that made this all-star cast of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman, Dennis Quaid and Judy Greer seem more satirical in their overstated roles. Jessica Biel was the stable force playing the the former wife of the soccer great. Gerard Butler was believable as the former star now struggling to find his spot in a second career after sports.

Overall I thought it was enjoyable. The movie did not drag and had some great feel good moments. However I thought I was watching a made for TV movie. The story was very predictable as are most of your romantic comedies.

I was very much looking forward to seeing this movie because of the stars and supporting roles, as well. I was heartily disappointed. I like Gerard Butler, and enjoyed him in the movie, but the movie was incredibly slow even for me, someone who is not into action movies. But there was too little here. Too many talented women making fools of themselves, and Dennis Quaid was thoroughly wasted as a philandering husband jealous of his wife. Outside of the main characters, all of the roles were flat and without much personality. Butler isn't the only actor who made a mistake to accept this script. Butler and Biel were the only ones with anything to work with, and they did their best, but the script was simply a failure. This was not even good enough for TV, let alone a motion picture. Save your time and money and watch something else! This is one case in which the critics were right. No wonder this was a box office flop.