Movie rating: 1 Star

Playing for Keeps

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Dear Gerard Butler, please fire your agent. You had nothing but potential when you came to our universal attention in 300, and while both RockNRolla and How To Train Your Dragon were both a lot of fun, you've also fallen into the McConaughey trap of starring in one-too-many sub-par rom-coms. PS I Love You, The Ugly Truth, The Bounty Hunter; they've all been pretty crappy, but with Playing For Keeps, we have a reached a new low.

Butler plays George, a formerly famous soccer player who has moved to the States to be near his son, who lives with his ex-wife (Biel). When George takes over as the coach of his son's soccer team, he gets involved in the lives of some of the kid's parents, including a bevy of hot soccer moms (Zeta-Jones, Thurman, Judy Greer) who all want a go of George's soccer balls.
As far as the plot goes, that's your lot. George wants to be a better dad, and for about 90% of the movie he seems to enjoy sleeping around, but then all of a sudden he decides he wants his ex-wife back. Why they got divorced or how he went from multi-millionaire superstar to a bankrupt soccer coach is never explained, which makes it very difficult to actually care about Butler's character. On top of that, no two actors seem to realise they're in the same movie; Butler and Biel are okay, but Zeta-Jones and Thurman both seem to think they're in some kind of mad-cap sex comedy, and Dennis Quaid is a jittery, uncomfortable mess as he plays the closest thing this movie has to a villain.

In short, this is a romantic comedy drama that isn't romantic, funny or dramatic. Instead, it's misogynistic, humourless and painfully dull. Instead of paying attention to the plot, you'll spend the entire running time wondering how this many famous actors got involved in something this bad.
 

Review by Rory Cashin | 15:19 | Tuesday 1st January 2013 | Movie Review

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Comments

• maighread2008

  Don't know what Gerard Butler is at. He made a beautiful film called Dear Frankie a long time ago and he was really good in it. I also thought he made a brilliant Phantom of the Opera. Bizarre choices since though. He can actually act so don't understand the insistence on making rom com after rom com.

  Posted 15:44 | Wed 2nd Jan 2013

• FilmBuff76

  Yeah, Dear Frankie was a good film. Butler really needs to talk to his agent - or get a new one.

  Posted 15:52 | Sat 5th Jan 2013

• Linda

  I really enjoyed this love Ger Butler films recommed for a chick flick night out with the ladies

  Posted 17:15 | Mon 4th Feb 2013

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