The Best Sports Movies #11: The Game Plan
Joe Kingman was the star quarterback on the Boston Rebels team. He was good at football, had a lot of fans and endorsements, and the team was heading into the playoffs. Joe was shocked when Peyton Kelly, an eight-year-old girl, showed up on his doorstep saying he was her father. Joe had no idea that his ex-wife had a baby after they decided to end their marriage. Joe's agent Stella wasn’t happy about the situation because she felt it could mess up his endorsement deals. Joe had trouble adjusting to be a father for a while but he came to care for Peyton and wanted her to be happy, even going so far as to take part in her ballet recital.
The Game Plan wasn’t complex in any way. The movie was focused on Joe adjusting to being a father when he learned that he had a daughter so there really weren’t any surprises. It was very clear to me that there was something a little off about Peyton’s explanation for why she suddenly showed up. That was reinforced throughout the movie with the way she was acting at times. I wasn’t exactly sure what the full explanation was, but I wasn’t surprised when something was revealed late in the movie. Overall, the movie was predictable which will bother some viewers. I didn’t mind because the movie was entertaining.
I did think that The Game Plan was a fairly funny movie. The humor tended to be connected to things Joe messed up in some way with Peyton at first and that did work for the movie. There were jokes connected to other things as well. Unfortunately, I do feel like the funniest parts were used in the trailer once again. I really hate when that happens. There were a few other funny things, like when Joe got pulled into Peyton’s ballet recital. A couple of Joe’s teammates also said or did things that added a little humor to the movie. Most of the humor was silly, but that didn’t bother me because I was expecting that and it wasn’t as silly as it could have been. I was happy to see that the movie wasn’t loaded down with gross humor like so many tend to do anymore.
Joe’s life revolved around football before Peyton arrived in his life. He'd even said in an interview that nothing else mattered. Short bits of some of the games as well as some practices were briefly shown. There wasn’t a lot of football featured in the movie, which could bother some people. The only real action in the movie happened during the few scenes that included football in some way.
Even though The Game Plan was a comedy, it still had some more serious scenes and it did touch on some serious issues. Something that came out later in the movie might upset younger children. A few things connected to the movie were a bit sad without making the movie sad or depressing. Joe and Peyton did share a scene that had Joe singing an Elvis song to her that was touching. The movie did handle the sadder, more serious things well for the most part without getting too preachy like happens in some movies. The pace of the movie did slow down at times, making a few scenes drag. The movie was a bit slower starting off when it was establishing Joe and then introducing Peyton before picking up the pace.
The heart of The Game Plan was provided by the growing relationship between Joe and Peyton. Joe was very self-centered at first, thinking only of himself and his first thoughts when Peyton arrived was to find someone else to send her to. As the movie progressed and he spent more time with her, he started changing his attitude about things even though he was still adjusting to being a father. I do think the movie was a very family friendly movie. Joe was shown without his shirt in a few scenes. That was the closest there was to nudity and there wasn’t any swearing in the movie, so I really don’t think parents need to be concerned about their children seeing the movie.
When the movie started, time was taken to show that Joe was very much enjoying his life. He loved the attention from the press and enjoyed throwing parties. He had been dating a model, though something made it seem like he really wasn’t that serious about her. Later, it did seem like he was attracted to and interested in Monique, Peyton’s ballet teacher. She actually had no clue who he was and wasn’t dazzled by him like most other women were. After a while she started to show that she was interested as well but not much of anything happened with the relationship.
Joe was very popular thanks to his football career. He was very focused on himself and self-centered until after Peyton showed up. He changed a lot over the course of the movie and I do think the changes were believable. I really liked Dwayne Johnson in the part. He’s very charismatic and there’s just something about him that I like. I’ve liked him in every movie that I’ve seen him in and will continue to see his movies. This movie gave him the chance to do more comedy after his small but very funny performance in Be Cool.
Peyton was a very intelligent young girl. She could be very determined to get what she wanted. Madison Pettis was very good in the part without being annoying or irritating like some child actors can be. She worked very well with Johnson in the scenes they shared. Stella was Joe’s agent who always had her eye on getting him bigger endorsement deals. She wasn’t nice to Peyton and saw the girl as nothing but a problem. Stella did speak without really thinking a few times. Kyra Sedgewick was great in the part. It was different from the part she plays in The Closer.
Monique was very kind to her students but didn’t take any nonsense from the parents. She expected certain things from the parents and wouldn’t make an exception for Joe. More of her kindness was shown as the movie progressed. I kept thinking that I recognized Roselyn Sanchez while watching the movie but I couldn’t think from where. I only figured it out after I did some checking online and saw that she is in the television show Without a Trace. She was also in Rush Hour 2.
Morris Chestnut turned up as Travis, one of Joe’s teammates. Several of the team teased him because he put his wife and family ahead of other things but it was Travis that Joe turned to for advice at one point. Kyle Cooper was the only other member of the team that stood out and that was just because he kept doing stupid stuff. Other members of the team were shown without them receiving any sort of development.
The Game Plan was an entertaining family friendly movie that did have a few flaws. I still enjoyed the movie overall. People that like the Rock may also enjoy it, though it is a very different movie from his other parts.