THE GAME PLAN (2007)

THE GAME PLAN
*
Rating: PG
Length: 110 minutes
Director: Andy Fickman (Reefer Madness- The Movie Musical; She’s the Man)
Writers: Nichole Millard and Kathryn Price
Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kyra Sedgwick, Morris Chestnut, Paige Turco, Madison Pettis, Gordon Clapp, Roselyn Sanchez, Hayes MacArthur, Christine Lakin, Lauren Storm, Jamal Duff, Marv Albert, Boomer Esiason, Jim Gray, Stuart Scott, Steve Levy, Eddie George, Jay Glazer

I should say before I get started here that I am well aware that I am not the target audience for this movie. This is a Disney movie about an arrogant superstar athlete (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) whose life is turned upside down when he finds out he has an eight year old daughter (Madison Pettis). The movie is intended for children and families. But does that mean they have to smile and take it? Part of me feels bad for giving this movie such a low review because it makes me comes across as a scrooge, but honestly just because a movie appears to have it’s heart in the right place doesn’t mean it should get a free pass. When you look past all the heart tugging and good morale preaching, you get what “The Game Plan” really is- a movie that Disney made to make money. Plain and simple. There is no other reason for this film to exist. There is not a shred of originality in this movie. It will no doubt put smiles on some faces and for those people that will do just fine, but they deserve better. The marketing people for Mickey & Co. seem to have calculated this one to a tee. There’s the football element to keep the dads and boys entertained, there’s the cute little girl for the girls, and there’s the storyline and a half-hearted romantic subplot for the moms- all in a mostly pure PG environment. The athlete learns to care about people other than himself. There’s the big game at the end of the movie that the little girl ends up being his main inspiration for. The greedy agent (Kyra Sedgwick- seriously Kyra why are you in this movie and how did you get stuck with the fart gag?) gets hers. The Rock gets the girl (Roselyn Sanchez). Everybody goes home happy and certainly there’s nothing wrong with that. The problem is that just because the movie wants to have heart doesn’t mean it has one. There isn’t the sound of a heart beating beneath this movie, there’s just the sound of a cash register.

Download Soundtrack MP3s:
Wolfmother- Woman
Apollo 440- Heart Go Boom

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