Warning: movie not suitable for adults

The Rock fails to deliver laughs in new Disney movie ‘The Game Plan’

By Justin Thurmond, contributing writer
Posted on October 1, 2007

Former WWE wrestler, The Rock, has plenty of movies under his belt, including a Disney movie. He can now add another one to his resume.  Usually Disney movies are children targeted and filled with only jokes that kids from the age of 5 to 12 laugh at.  The sad part is that this one follows that same formula, and much like the Rock‘s hairline, it’s wearing thin.

“The Game Plan” is about pro football quarterback Joe Kingman (played by The Rock) of the Boston Rebels and his attempt to win the big game and all the endorsements that go along with it.  He is urged by his evil agent Stella Peck (Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”) to get all the money he can before he becomes old news. This pretty much turns Joe into a selfish player who only cares about himself instead of the team. He becomes hated by most of the players on the team and it’s not until the arrival of his daughter from a previous relationship,that he starts to change his greedy ways.

The bachelor life that he once had is ruined and his new life as a parent is just beginning.   Joe doesn’t know how to handle the situation at first, but after several incidents involving out-of-control bubble baths, blender explosions and doggy makeovers, he slowly gets the hang of it.

As the standard movie plot is presented, it is coupled with typical jokes and forced laughter of children’s movies today.  The humor isn’t all that funny and the situations that are meant to be humorous turn out lame and awkward. The scene where The Rock participates in a ballet show is just an example. 

The Rock does a pretty good job at playing the “in love with himself” star quarterback, but kids will mostly find young actress Madison Pettis, who plays his long lost daughter, Peyton, to be the best part of the movie.  She provides the movie with cuteness and innocence, which Disney is always reliable for, but she won’t strike any adult as funny.

I won’t say this movie is bad; it’s just not for the older crowd.  The football aspect of the movie might be enough to get your average man to go see it, but it won’t keep him interested.

Overall I’d recommend it to parents as a Sunday afternoon activity, but I wouldn’t suggest it to anybody else.