Love Coach

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.

¨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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George Dryer(Gerard Butler) a once great soccer player, he was pretty much the Michael Jordan of that sport. Tries to pick up the pieces of his life after falling on hard times, he is trying to build a realiontship with his son and his ex wife(Jessica Biel), while trying to get a job has a sportscaster, but luck comes in, when he becomes the soccer coach for his sons team.

Gerard Butler does make attempt to put in a good performance, and not play the character has one noted. His scenes with the boy are pretty effective. But everything else pretty much goes nowhere, plots involving Judy Greer, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Uma Thurman are completely bland beyond itself. Dennis Quaid is memorable in spots has the odd billionaire that Butler befriends. But Jessica Biel is out of place here has Butlers ex, her acting says how out of place she is.

The fact that Playing For Keeps received such poor reviews doesn't surprise me because movie critics are some of the most closed minded individuals on the planet and this movie doesn't fit into one of their predetermined little genres. It is too raunchy to be a family movie, doesn't focus on relationships or drama enough to be a romantic-comedy, doesn't involved enough soccer to be a sports movie, and doesn't have the proper type of humor to be dude movie. What it is, however, is just an all-around decent film. There's nothing great about it but it does everything pretty good. The cast is great, though they are a bit underwhelming and underutilized in the film, and they provide solid performances, albeit a bit cliché. The plot is decent enough to keep you engaged. Is it predictable? Of course it is but so are 99% of movies made nowadays so that's nothing new. All in all, I think most open-minded viewers will enjoy this as a pretty good all-around movie, nothing more, nothing less.

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.