Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: Playing For Keeps

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Playing For Keeps - Review

Playing for Keeps
(2012 - December 7)
Comedy | Romance
106 min

Rated: PG-13 Some sexual situations, language and a brief intense image What parents should know

Grade: C

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Writer: Robbie Fox (screenplay)
Stars: Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel and Dennis Quaid | See full cast and crew

Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Quaid star in Playing for Keeps, a romantic comedy about a charming, down-on-his luck former soccer star (Butler) who returns home to put his life back together. Looking for a way to rebuild his relationship with his son, he gets roped into coaching the boy's soccer team. But his attempts to finally become an "adult" are met with hilarious challenges from the attractive "soccer moms" who pursue him at every turn. -- (C) Film District

Don't expect Playing For Keeps to win any Oscars, Golden Globes or People's Choice awards, it's very formulaic so neither will it be scoring any points for originality but it is fairly innocuous entertainment for its target audience. It could have been a much better film if it had not spent so much of it's time focusing on marital infidelity and George's (Gerard Butler) promiscuity. George is a washed up former pro soccer player who has lost his family due to his immaturity and his egocentric lifestyle. He now is single and desperately wants and needs a job in sports broadcasting. He also now realizes, a bit too late, that his family and being a father to his son is important to him.

There are no surprises in this very generic story, every event is predictable. Even with a very capable cast of actors there are no stellar performances in this film. George's son Lewis (Noah Lomax, who will next be seen in the upcoming Safe Haven) is as much a standout as anyone in the cast which doesn't say much for veteran actors like Gerard Butler, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thrurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jessica Biel.

It's not that Playing For Keeps is a bad movie it's that it's just not really a good movie either. If you are looking for a great film or a tear-jerker, emotional film you will probably be disappointed, but if all you expect is some mindless entertainment for an hour and forty-six minutes then you'll most likely get what you paid for.