Publicity
Stills of "The Game Plan"
(Courtesy from BVI)
Genre: Comedy Director: Andy Fickman Cast: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson,
Roselyn Sanchez, Kyra Sedgwick, Morris Chestnut, Madison Pettis,
Gordon Clapp, Kate Nauta, Paige Turco RunTime: 1 hr 50 mins Released By: BVI Rating: PG Official Website: http://www.gameplanmovie.com
Story of rugged superstar quarterback Joe Kingman (DWAYNE
“THE ROCK” JOHNSON), whose Boston-based team is
chasing a championship. A ‘serial bachelor’, Kingman
is living the ultimate fantasy: he’s rich, famous and
the life of the party. But this dream is suddenly sacked for
a loss when he discovers the 7-year-old daughter (newcomer
MADISON PETTIS) he never knew he had – the product of
a last fling before parting years ago with his young wife.
Movie Review:
I suspect the key to success in Hollywood for tough guys is
one, either you choose to work with kids, or you go straight
to video.
Take
for example The Terminator now Governor of California, Mr
Arnold Schwarzenegger who once did a holiday-theme movie with
a very young Anakin Skywalker called “Jingle All the
Way” or in recent times if you recall, Mr XXX aka Vin
Diesel has to resort to baby-sitting kids in “The Pacifier”.
Even our very own Asia action star Jackie Chan has to sing
lullabies in “Rob-B-Hood”.
With
“The Game Plan”, Dwayne “The Rock”
Johnson has joined the league as Joe Kingman, an over-the-top,
egoistic quarterback who unexpectedly found out he has a daughter
(Disney Channel‘s Madison Pettis) from his past marriage.
Kingman
is huge not in terms of build and biceps, he is rich, famous
and is on the way to snag the championship for his football
team. Of course, jokes are bound to arise when you put a bachelor
with an 8 year-old girl. Give that guy a football and he can
easily make it fly but how does a tough guy deal with a little
girl here? Easy. The screenwriters manage to make Kingman
tries ballet and putting him in a bubble bath all for the
sake of his daughter. This is a Disney-friendly flick after
all. Kids just want to have fun seeing adults in dire situations.
And we have plenty of that right here.
Fortunately,
Dwayne Johnson is a comedic natural. His charming personality
makes Kingman so likeable by the audience despite his character
is an untouchable sportsman. Having a six year-old daughter
in real-life might have helped in his cohesion with his co-star,
Pettis. There are genuine scenes whereby you are moved by
Dwayne and Pettis. Dwayne who is a fan of Elvis Presley off-camera
has a great time hamming it up onscreen with his character
being a fan of “The King”. At least Dwayne’s
version of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” isn’t
that annoying.
Possibly
knowing the material on hold is pretty weak to sustain the
attention span of full-grown adults, director Andy Fickman
who previously did the enjoyable Amanda Bynes “She’s
The Man” throws in interludes of hard-hitting football
action to mellow the sweetness by a notch. You got to admit
Fickman has the flair of getting you hooked with the weird
combination of kids and sports.
As
with every feel-good Disney’s materials, we got the
hidden messages in “The Game Plan”. Money and
fame can’t buy you true love at the end of the day.
We got that! At least the kiddos around me were entertained
and eyes glued onscreen throughout the 110 minutes and that’s
truly what money can’t buy.
I
got a feeling Dwayne Johnson will have a bright acting career
in Hollywood when the credits rolled. You know why some action
stars that were huge in the past can only grace the video
shelves nowadays? The magic word: Kids.
Movie
Rating:
(With The Game Plan, “The Rock” has successfully
turned into “The King” of box-office!)
