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Written by Robert W. Butler, MCT
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Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
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GAME PLAN
1 ½ stars
Director: Andy Fickman
Cast: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Madison Pettis, Kyra Sedgwick
Rated: PG for mild thematic elements.
Running time: 1:50
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Former pro wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson pretty much drips on-screen charisma, but he can't overcome the banality of "Game Plan," a comedy so formulaic and uninspired that you'd swear you've seen the movie before.
And you have, in dozens of permutations, all of them relying on the pairing a big alpha male with a cute little kid.
The Rock plays Joe Kingman, star quarterback for a fictional Boston football team. Joe is pretty much an ego on legs, basking in the love of the public and living only for the hours he spends on the field. He's the kind of guy whose penthouse has a wall devoted to a giant portrait of himself.
One day he finds an 8-year-old girl standing outside his door. Peyton (Madison Pettis), announces that she is Joe's daughter, the result of one last dalliance between Joe and the woman to whom he was briefly married nearly a decade ago.
Peyton explains that Mom has gone to Africa to do charity work and expects Joe, who never knew of the girl's existence, to take care of her for a month.
If you buy any of this, you may already be the victim of a Nigerian bank e-mail scam.
Anyway, exactly what you think will happen happens. It starts out with Joe behaving like the self-centered oaf he is, absent-mindedly leaving Peyton in a nightclub at 3 a.m. or forgetting to pick her up from ballet class. Naturally the ballet instructor (Roselyn Sanchez) is a knockout, and she ropes Joe into pulling on a leotard and starring in a dance production.
Before it's all over, Joe and Peyton will bond. Who'd have guessed?
Oh, and did I mention this all happens during playoff season, when Joe is expected to lead his team to a national championship?
If you're looking for someone to blame in all this, the prime suspects are director Andy Fickman, who brings a style that makes your typical TV sitcom look profound, and especially Nicholle Miller and Kathryn Price, whose screenplay is a study in the banal and cliched.
The usually reliable Kyra Sedgwick is wasted in the role of Joe's sports agent, a money-driven shrew with no maternal instinct.
Although it was made by Disney, the overlong "Game Plan" looks and plays like something created for the cable channel rather than theaters. | Only registered users can write comments.
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