Movie Review: Playing for Keeps

Cast:

Gerard Butler: George

Jessica Biel: Stacie

Dennis Quaid: Carl

Uma Thurman: Patti

Catherine Zeta-Jones: Denise

Noah Lomax: Lewis

Runtime: 1hr 46 mins

Rating: PG-13

Plot: A former soccer star has fallen on hard times. He moves to Virginia to be close to his estranged son and ex-wife. He becomes the soccer coach for his son's team, where all the soccer moms go crazy for him. He would love to work things out with his girlfriend, but she is engaged to be married to a more *mature* man. George is basically trying to fix his life he seems to have ruined.

In My Opinion: I love me some Gerard Butler, which is the only reason I wanted to see this movie. I thought how bad can it be with a cast like this. I knew it was going to be predictable, it's hard to find a romantic comedy that is not, but I'm a still a fan of them. You can call me a hopeless romantic. This movie did not disappoint in the romance department, but it did in the comedy department. Yes there were a couple of cute lines, but nothing that made me laugh out loud. I found myself at times wishing I had a remote control to see if there was anything better on. Although this movie had some touching moments, I couldn't stand all the desperate mothers throwing themselves at George. It was supposed to be funny, but it failed. The one thing which saved this movie was the acting. Gerard is amazing and I even liked Jessica Biel's performance, which is strange because I usually don't like her acting skills.

IT'S RATING TIME

The Story: 3.5 out of 5 stars: Although it has been done before it was a very touching story.

The Acting: 5 out of 5 stars: The acting is the best part of this movie, even the secondary characters do an amazing job.

The Love Interest: 5 out of 5 stars: Hello, it's Gerard Butler. You can't help but love him in this movie.

Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 5 stars

Bottom line: It's a cute movie, but not one you need to see in the theatre. I say wait for the DVD.

~Maria