Playing for Keeps

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.

Gerard Butler plays George, a former soccer star who now finds himself on hard times apparently from squandering his resources. He finds himself living in Virginia so he can be close to his estranged son, Lewis (Noah Lomax) and ex-wife, Stacie (Jessica Biel). When George begins coaching his son's soccer team, it isn't long before all the hot soccer moms start noticing him. I thought this was supposed to be a romantic comedy but I have to tell you, I barely chuckled twice. Playing for Keeps offers a star-studded supporting cast, including, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Judy Greer and Dennis Quaid; but, surprisingly, I found the funniest character out of the bunch to be George's nosy landlord, Pramam, played by actor Iqbal Theba. Such fantastic actors but sadly the director simply did not utilize their talent to the fullest. This movie really had so much more potential. I really enjoyed the cinematography although the lighting a bit dim for me. The location was very beautiful. The first 30-45 minutes was entirely too slow for even my liking. At some point after that, it finally started to pick up but for lack of a better description, it simply felt very flat to me. I wanted to like this movie and I wanted to like the characters even more, but it just never happened for me. Granted, Gerry and Jessica are beautiful actors but the chemistry between then was lacking. Again, just didn't feel it. More laughs, humor and spirit would have been a pleasant and satisfying consolation, but one that never came.

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.

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.

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.