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Movies / Upcoming / Play the Game
Play the Game

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Play the Game (2009)

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Reviews Counted:29

Fresh:8

Rotten:21

Average Rating:4.3/10

Consensus: Andy Griffith is his usually likable self, but he's stranded in a middling comedy that's surprisingly tasteless and poorly crafted.

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Writer/Director Marc Fienberg’s PLAY THE GAME is an original comedy with surprising and clever twists about a young ladies' man, David, who teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed... Writer/Director Marc Fienberg’s PLAY THE GAME is an original comedy with surprising and clever twists about a young ladies' man, David, who teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed grandfather Joe, while playing his best mind games to meet Julie, the woman of his dreams. But as David's supposedly foolproof techniques fail him, Grandpa Joe quickly transforms into the Don Juan of the retirement community. Slowly, the teacher becomes the student, and it's up to Grandpa to teach David that the best way to win the game of love is not to play games at all. But both David and Grandpa Joe may have met their match in more ways than one, leading to a surprise twist ending that makes the audience look back at the entire film in a new light.

As a bonus, PLAY THE GAME presents three beloved television stars – Andy Griffith, Doris Roberts, and Liz Sheridan – in "romantic" situations as you've never seen them before, and continues Andy’s meteoric career renaissance that began with last year’s indie darling, Waitress. --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Andy Griffith, Paul Campbell, Liz Sheridan, Doris Roberts

Starring: Andy Griffith, Paul Campbell, Liz Sheridan, Doris Roberts, Marla Sokoloff, Clint Howard, Rance Howard, Geoffrey Owens, Juliette Jeffers

Director: Marc Fienberg

Director: Marc Fienberg
Screenwriter: Marc Fienberg
Producer: Marc Fienberg
Composer: Jim Latham
Studio: Slowhand Cinema

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Reviews for Play the Game

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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I never contemplated what Andy Griffith's face would look like during orgasm, and I curse this atrocious and shoddy romantic comedy for making Griffith do it and making anyone watch it.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
11/13/09
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Surprisingly sexual in nature, and not just because it seems so concerned with the sex practices of the elderly. There's too much of that sort of material here and not nearly enough of the stuff we really want to see.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
11/12/09
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

There's a good comedy to be made about sex among seniors, but the low-budget indie film Play the Game is not that movie.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
10/15/09
Jeff Shannon
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times

It isn't great movie-making, but it is a cheeky good time -- even if you've never wondered what Opie's pa would look like after a jolt of Viagra.

Full Review Source: Florida Times-Union | comment Comment
09/10/09
Matt Soergel
Matt Soergel
Florida Times-Union

This isn't so much sitcom fare as dinner-theatre material, directed without an ounce of style or panache and played more broadly than an old vaudeville routine.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
09/10/09
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Although occasionally slow Play the Game receives a boost from its capable cast. It's fun to see an old dog learn new tricks.

Full Review Source: ReviewExpress.com | comment Comment
09/06/09
Diana Saenger
Diana Saenger
ReviewExpress.com

The scene in which Alzheimer's is played as a dating dealbreaker is as stunningly tasteless as Fienberg's zooming-in on Joe's face when he receives his first blowjob.

Full Review Source: Washington City Paper | comment Comment
08/28/09
Tricia Olszewski
Tricia Olszewski
Washington City Paper

While Fienberg's direction is no great shakes, the film showcases its veteran cast.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
08/28/09
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post

one of those endearingly cute, funny movies you'll see on cable and wonder why studios don't put their marketing machine behind this kind of film instead of the typical garbage we get passed off on us as summer 'entertainment.'

Full Review Source: Gazette (MD) | comment Comment
08/28/09
Jeffrey Lyles
Jeffrey Lyles
Gazette (MD)

Smart screenplay, good directing. Except for Griffith, casting is wrong.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment 1 Comment
08/28/09
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

Stay home and find yourself a Golden Girls marathon.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
08/28/09
Elizabeth Weitzman
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News

Play the Game has all kinds of good intentions, but the comedy is too broad and the pacing is clumsy. Take away the dirty parts, and this is the type of thing you can get for free on the Hallmark Channel every day.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
08/28/09
Peter Hartlaub
Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle

Veering between syrupy sweet and awkwardly dirty, Play the Game is a woefully scoreless exercise.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
08/28/09
Robert Abele
Robert Abele
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The good news is that the seemingly perennial TV fixture is still funny and sharp and folksy. The bad news is that he lost the bet, or whatever it was that got him into Marc Fienberg's smarmy, lackluster comedy.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
08/28/09
John Anderson
John Anderson
Washington Post

Griffith improvises an orgasm that seems to last as long as the entire eight-year run of The Andy Griffith Show.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
08/28/09
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

Did you ever wonder what face Andy Griffith makes when he's having an intimate moment with a lady friend? Me neither. Yet that's one of many "delights" foisted on us during writer-director Marc Fienberg's feature-length debut comedy.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
08/28/09
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

There have been many things in this world I never thought I would see, and watching Andy Griffith receive, umm, "oral pleasure" was one of them

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
08/28/09
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

Heartwarming, clever and very, very funny. It's a genuinely charming, uplifting and crowd-pleasing gem that must be seen by generations, young and old.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
08/28/09
Avi Offer
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

Hearing Griffith say, 'David, grandpa's horny,' is not something anyone should have to experience.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
08/27/09
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

Opie, I don't think we're in Mayberry any more.

Full Review Source: Beliefnet | comment Comment
08/27/09
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Beliefnet
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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