Playing for Keeps

Yellow Card

★ ★ 1/2 out of 5 buckets | Rental

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Rated: PG-13 - Some sexual situations, language and a brief intense image.

Release Date: December 7, 2012

Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes

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Director: Gabriele Muccino
Writers: Robbie Fox
Cast:  Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Noah Lomax, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Tupper, Judy Greer

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SYNOPSIS: A former soccer star with no prospects tries desperately to reconnect with his son and soon-to-be remarried ex-wife. When he has the chance to spend more time with his son by coaching his soccer team, he finds himself dealing with lustful soccer moms and quirky dads.

REVIEW: Seven Pounds and The Pursuit of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino takes on the romantic comedy genre with dashing Gerard Butler and sexy girl next door Jessica Biel. Robbie Fox, writer of the 1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer, returns as a scribe after an eighteen hiatus, begging the question of whether soccer and family can mix. 

George (Gerard Butler, Chasing Mavericks) was a famous soccer striker in his youth, until an injury sidelined him and stole away his prospects in the sport. Today, he moves into a guest house in Virginia to be closer to his ex-wife Stacie (Jessica Biel, Hitchcock) and son Lewis (Noah Lomax, The Middle). Struggling to make ends meet and to become a quality father to Lewis, George takes in the challenge of coaching his son's wayward soccer team. With the kids in the team engaged with the sport, George finds himself having to deal with lustful divorcees in the form of soccer mom Barb (Judy Greer, Jeff, Who Lives at Home), married women Denise (Cathrine Zeta-Jones, Rock of Ages), and a rich, jealous husband Carl (Dennis Quaid, The Words) who cheats on his wife Patty (Uma Thurman, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) but lives by his own double standards. George may have been able to handles the stresses of World Cup play, but his chance to make good with his son and to make peace with his soon-to-be remarried ex-wife may prove too much to endure.

Chiseled, scruffy, and dashing Gerard Butler made a name for himself with the theatrical Phantom of the Opera and 300, leading to roles in a string of so-so romantic comedies and decent action films. He provides one of the voices to the successful How to Train Your Dragon films and the gritty Machine Gun Preacher. Following up the zen surfer Chasing Mavericks drama, Butler continues with a more semi-serious romantic film to finish out the year. Jessica Biel, fresh off her limited released of the Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren film Hitchcock, has been successful in mixing up her resume with action, horror, and romance. Both make the most of the film and their characters, with Butler as the immature womanizer and Jessica as the woman who had to give up her love affair with a sports star in order to move on with her life to raise their son by herself.

Butler and Biel are cast with several A-listers including Thurman, Quaid, and Zeta-Jones. But the real show stealer is Judy Greer as soccer mom divorcee Barb. Sure, Thurman and Zeta-Jones are sexy and flirty as heck, but Greer's Barb is brilliant as the seemingly bi-polar emotional wreck that finds solace in Butler's George. Dennis Quaid plays a neurotic jealous husband who walks the line between a good guy and a bad guy. Either way, Butler's George should have probably given Quaid's Carl a wider berth. 

The story is solid enough, but formulaic. Characters are introduced and used, except Greer's superior performance, just as plot devices to throw at George. They serve their purpose well enough, but each piece hangs out to flap in the wind afterward. And the believability factor suffers a little bit when George's appearance at Lewis' practice turns into a soccer clinic and the complete turnaround of a losing bunch of kids to championship material. The story of George, his son Lewis, and ex-wife Stacie works to a greater degree, focusing on George's attempt to reconcile and better his relationship with both of them.

Playing for Keeps is a pleasant semi-dramatic romantic comedy. Anyone who can relate to divorced parents trying to reconcile for the sake of a child will appreciate what this film is trying to achieve. There is sexiness, bare chests, and charisma for most, and the campiness and hijinks of the soccer moms interested in George does take away from the more serious story between George, Stacie, and Lewis.

Playing for Keeps is a cute flick that will entertain moviegoers in the mood for a light dramatic romantic comedy. Butler and Biel have plenty of chemistry to go along with perfect smiles and beautiful features. Is this film nothing but the back of the net? You decide.

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What To Expect When You're Expecting

All Baby Bases Covered

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Rated: PG-13  Crude and sexual content, thematic elements and language
Release Date: May 18, 2012
Runtime:  1 hr 50 mins

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Director: Kirk Jones
Writers: Shauna Cross, Heather Hach, based on the books by Heidi Murkoff
Cast:  Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Ben Falcone, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Chris Rock, Dennis Quaid, Amir Talai

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SYNOPSIS: Five loosely interconnected couples struggle through the process of having a baby, each dealing with their own issues.

REVIEW: Kirk Jones, award winning director of Absolut Vodka TV ads and other advertising campaigns, also has made a name for himself with film projects including Everbody's Fine and Waking Ned Devine which he wrote and directed. Now he returned to the pilot's chair to direct a story from Shauna Cross (Whip It) and Heather Hach (Freaky Friday - 2003) based on the Heidi Murkoff books 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'. Do you know what to expect? Let's find out.

What to Expect When You're Expecting focuses on five couples in different situations of trying to have a child. Television fitness trainer Jules (Cameron Diaz, Bad Teacher) goes on a television dancing competition reality show and starts a relationship with dance partner Evan (Matthew Morrison, Glee), resulting in her pregnancy. Baby store owner Wendy (Elizabeth Banks, The Hunger Games) has been trying to conceive a child for two years with husband Gary (Ben Falcone, Bridesmaids), but have been having difficulties until an unexpected evening changes the course of their lives. Competing food truck chefs and former high school daters Marco (Chace Crawford, Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding) and Rosie (Anna Kendrick, 50/50) 'reconnect' one night at an outdoor film showing. Holly (Jennifer Lopez, The Back-up Plan) and husband Alex (Rodrigo Santoro, 300) look to adopt from abroad when Holly is unable to conceive, sparking financial and emotional fears. And finally, Gary's own retired NASCAR champion father Ramsey (Dennis Quaid, Beneath the Darkness) has news that his young beautiful new wife Skyler (Brooklyn Decker, Battleship) is also expecting - twins! As each couple tries to get a handle on the intricacies and obstacles of bringing a baby into the world or into their hearts, their paths cross loosely with the other couples in some fashion.

What to Expect When You're Expecting chronicles the 9-month journeys of five very different couples. Some are married, some are not. Some are in committed relationships, some are just trying to do the right thing by their partner. From Jules and Evan's hectic high-profile, in-the-public-eye reality show schedules, to barely making it financially food truck chefs Rosie and Marco, each couple portrays a partial cross-section of the reality of future parents. Holly and Alex try to do everything to impress the adoption agency, knowing full well that their financial situation will barely cover a new mortgage and a new baby if anything dire were to occur. On the other end of the spectrum, Ramsey and Skyler live a posh existence with a beautiful estate, a golf course in their back yard, and swimming pool complete with an official Jimmy Buffet 'Margaritaville' tiki bar. For them, money is no object and worries seem to shed off their backs like water off a duck. But secure finances do not make for easy times as Jules and Evan struggle to keep their Type-A personalities in check for the sake of the baby. Rich, poor, or middle class, the development and arrival of a child can only be planned so far in advance.

The film advertises as a dramatic comedy, but plays more to the light drama than to the comedy. In fact, the comedic elements come from the characters that fall outside of, but connected to, the five couples. Wendy's employee Janice (Rebel Wilson, Bridesmaids) is quirky and silly, hanging on her boss's every word and wisdom - dumb, naive and strangely lovable - like a automobile wreck. Holly's aquarium boss Kara (Wendi McLendon-Covey, Bridesmaids) is funny when she berates her husband Craig (Thomas Lennon, What's Your Number?) about the pronunciation of their son's name. And the aptly named 'The Dude's Group', which includes several veteran fathers including Vic (Chris Rock, Grown Ups), Gabe (Rob Huebel, The Descendants), Kara's husband Craig, and Patel (Amir Talai, The Pursuit of Happyness). They all meet in the park every Saturday to play with their kids, shoot the breeze, gossip, and observe the first rule of 'The Dude's Group' - no judgement! Kids playing in the dryer or swimming in the toilet bowl? No big deal! Kid eating a cigarette? Stuff happens! Kid falls off the changing table? Didn't happen on my watch! Dodged a bullet on that one! The rest of the cast of characters are too worried about their pregnancies and adoptions to spend too much time with all out humor.

The film is touching to a point, not as funny as it was made out to be in the trailers, and utterly busy. With five unique couple's experiences to contend with, we fill rushed through the delivery of the story. Couples pass by other couples like ships in the foggy night, rarely realizing that the other exists. There is so sadness and much more joy as the bundles of joy are brought home, and relationships strengthen or mend. But there is too much going on to be invested on all of it. Unlike the hit baby daddy comedy Knocked Up or the sweet and endearing Father of the Bride II, What to Expect When You're Expecting dilutes the quality of emotions in favor of quantity. Each actor or actress brings their A-game to their roles, either comedic or dramatic, but there is not enough time for anyone to shine too brightly. Maybe Kirk Jones was trying to make the audience feel disjointed or rushed so we could appreciate what the characters were experiencing in the story themselves. Each of the couples could have had a successful  film all to their own.

What to Expect When You're Expecting is a sometimes sweet, sometimes laborious film, spending too much of its time making sure every method of child birth or child adopting has a voice and is heard over the screaming of the other stories. Pushing all of these individual stories onto the screen at the same time, unfortunately, fails to deliver in the end.

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WORTH:  Matinee or Rental