Film Review: The Game Plan

Liverpool Daily Post

The Game Plan (U, 110 mins)
Stars: Dwayne ’The Rock’ Johnson, Madison Pettis, Kyra Sedgwick, Roselyn Sanchez, Morris Chestnut, Hayes Macarthur, Brian J White
Directed by Andy Fickman

ALTHOUGH the setting and underlying themes are contemporary – the corruptive allure of celebrity, the pressures of single parenthood, rampant materialism – The Game Plan is an old-fashioned Disney yarn extolling the virtues of the family unit.

Wrestling star turned Hollywood action hero Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock, right) demon- strates a flair for comedy, throwing himself into each misadventure with gusto, and there’s a nice rapport with his diminutive and cute co- star, Madison Pettis.

Joe Kingman (Johnson) is at top of his game.

His carefully ordered world comes crashing down when eight-year- old Peyton (Pettis) turns up claiming to be his long-lost offspring.

Abandoned by her mother for two weeks, who is on humanitarian duties, Peyton needs somewhere to stay and Joe takes her in. At first, Joe struggles to adapt, continuing to pursue his party lifestyle and actually forgetting about Peyton at one bash. When the media threatens to eat him alive for his behaviour, Joe goes on the offensive by attending ballet lessons with his little girl, where he strikes up a friendship with fiery-tempered teacher Monique Vasquez.

As relationships blossom, Joe realises that while he loves the game of American football, he loves Peyton even more.

The Game Plan isn’t shy about slathering on the mawkish sentiment., especially in the closing moments when Joe plays through the pain of an injury to guide the Rebels to their fairy-tale finale.

Andy Fickman directs with a light touch, straining credibility as much as possible, especially in the ballet recital, which sees Joe transformed from lumbering oaf to graceful performer in the blink of an eye.

The character’s obsession with Elvis leads to an end credits cast rendition of "Burning Love" and Johnson serenading Pettis with "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"

As the brat rightly comments, "I think you’re tone deaf and sound more like a wounded moose than The King."