The Game Plan Review

Published by Jeff Leins on October 1, 2007

The action star goes soft. They (usually Disney) take a musclehead hero and give him a child sidekick. We’ve seen this formula many times before. Vin Diesel in The Pacifier. Arnold in Kindergarten Cop. Even fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan in Mr. Nanny. So you already know where The Game Plan is headed even before the kid in the fifth row starts crying.

The movie is clearly the typical Disney fluff, but is watchable only because Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is surprisingly charismatic and likable. He has experience with getting wrestling fans to love to hate him, so I wish I had put more faith in his ability to be a funny tough guy.

Not so fast. I’m not saying this movie is worth seeing for his performance. Let’s not be hasty, people.
“The Rock” plays Joe Kingman, an arrogant and selfish quarterback, who thinks of no one but himself. He even calls himself “The King,” an obvious nod to Elvis, who lines the walls of his fancy apartment alongside pictures of himself. The King is living the “American dream” which is, of course, means having televisions that descend from the ceiling.

After it’s clearly established that he thinks of no one but himself… enter his 8-year-old daughter, Peyton (Madison Pettis). She’s a cute kid. Almost too cute at times… She even knows what a paternity test is. That’s adorable.

The two alternate between saying something manly (usually football related) and saying something agonizingly cute. Plus they poorly segue between wacky, overly silly scenes.

The cookie cutter comedy shakes things up a bit by adding in a downer of a plot twist that is a bit unnecessary, but otherwise sets up a sappy and predictable ending. No spoilers from me, but I think we all knew everyone would learn a valuable lesson.

The Game Plan was mildly entertaining for adults only because The Rock is an underrated actor. I wouldn’t recommend it to my guy friends, but families with small children might have a good time together.

2 out of 5.