This
reviewer is a sucker for romantic comedies and even more of a pushover
for ‘heavy’ father and son scenes so why, with “Playing For Keeps” being
a romantic comedy with 2 moving father and son scenes does the movie
fall flat? A major factor is that there isn’t chemistry between the
star, Gerard Butler, and any other cast member. Though one should
suspend logic when entering a movie theatre some things are just draw
dropping out of place to ignore.

George
Dryer (Butler) is a has-been international soccer player who has lost
everything and moves to Virginia to try to win his ex-wife Stacie
(Jessica Biel) back and, just as important, be part of his young son
Lewis’s (Noah Lomax) life. Stacie is living with Matt (James
Tupper)--his house? Her house? Their house?--in a big house while George
doesn’t even have money to pay a security deposit on a guest house he
rents.

Ladies,
do you really fall for men who have stubble--or what we use to call 5
o’clock shadow? It seems to be THE item most actors are sporting these
days.  Catherine Zeta-Jones, Judy Greer and Uma Thurman fall all over
themselves, and each other, to get George in bed almost the same day he
starts to coach his preteen son’s soccer team or is it the stubble they
want to feel?

Oh
yes about that coaching job which pays nothing. Out of nowhere appears
Dennis Quaid who hands George a thick envelope of cash, which, by
actions later on, we have to assume are all 100 dollar bills, to use
‘for team uniforms and equipment’ which the team already has. He wants
to use George’s past fame to make some deals. He lends the coach a red
 Ferrari, invites him to a meet and greet some people and then we see
him calling George to go to his house and get $10,000 he needs to put up
for bail to get out of jail.  By the way Quaid is married to Thurman
and is very jealous so it is no spoiler that she will want to jump
George’s bones. After the jail scene Quaid disappears for most of the
picture to come back for a ridiculous fight scene.

Trying
to be a wacky comedy, a romantic comedy and then trying to segue into a
family drama the screenwriter, Robbie Fox, fails in all three and
director, Gabriele Muccino, seems to be floundering all over the place.
The only actor who shines is Noah Lomax as the son while the rest are
adequate considering they have nothing to act with.

By the way would ESPN, or any other sports network, hire someone to be a sportscaster who needs a shave o