Role Play

2024 Amazon MGM Studios

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 40min

Action ~ Comedy ~ Romance

Starring: Kaley Cuoco, David Oyelowo, Rudi Dharmalingam, Connie Nielsen, and Bill Nighy.

“Is that what you want, to mix things up a bit? Or do you want me to be someone else for the night?”

Kaley Cuoco stars as Emma Brackett, a happily married mother of two children living in the suburbs of New jersey with her husband Dave Brackett (David Oyelowo). Emma and Dave both have full time jobs, and Emma travels a lot for her work. Emma also leads a double life that her husband and family know nothing about. As the movie opens she is returning home from a business trip and finds that Dave is making her favorite meal on the grill, Orange Chicken, and the kids have set up the table like a restaurant. Her son informs Emma that he is going to be playing bartender for the evening, and her daughter is going to be the waitress.

Dismayed, Emma realizes that it is their anniversary and she has forgotten. After they put the kids to bed and retire for the evening, Dave gives Emma a present. It is a nurse costume and Dave suggests that some adult role play might help spice things up in their marriage. Emma has a better idea and suggests that the next night they get a babysitter and go into the city to a ritzy hotel and meet at the bar as total strangers. Dave thinks it’s a wonderful idea and they make plans.

The next evening Emma goes to the bar and is spotted by someone from her secret double life before Dave arrives. The stranger, who calls himself “Bob” approaches her and buys her a drink. He hints that he knows who she really is as Dave comes into the bar. Emma brushes him off and Dave circles around to make his move on Emma as a complete stranger. Bob comes back and hints strongly to Emma that her cover is blown and she is not who she says she is. They finally get rid of Bob and go on about their role play date.

The next day after they get home Dave’s sister informs him there was a murder and shootout in the hotel they were staying in. Dave discovers that Bob is dead and the police are looking for the mysterious couple seen in the bar talking to Bob earlier before he was killed. Dave freaks out that the police are looking for them and Emma freaks out because her cover is now exposed. Very concerned about the whole situation she tells Dave that she has to go on an emergency quick business trip and that she will straighten things out with the police when she gets back. She flies to Berlin to meet with her secret life manager to straighten out what has happened.

What follows is a hilarious action filled journey as Dave finds out about her secret life, and Emma tries to set things right in her secret double life and her family life. I am not familiar with Kaley Cuoco although I’m sure I’ve seen her before. And the same with David Oyelowo whose face I know but not his name. I thought they were both really good in this. I could feel the chemistry between them and the love they share for their family and life together. I was completely rooting for Emma to solve her secret life dilemma and get back to Dave and her kids. You could see that that is all her heart really wants, to be back living the simple life with her loving family.

It is more of a family romance comedy than a spy action thriller. I really liked this movie, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I really liked the soundtrack as well.

Role Play Soundtrack

A feel good action comedy romance with a twist, something a little different.

I liked it and yes I recommend it.

Two Thumbs Up!

Hit Man

2024 Netflix

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 55min

Comedy ~ Crime ~ Romance

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, and Sanjay Rao.

“Seize the identity you want for yourself, and whoever you want to be, be them with passion and abandon. And all pie is good pie.”

Glen Powell stars as Gary Johnson, a Philosophy and Psychology college professor by day, who moonlights with the police department assisting on sting operations. They are busting people who are looking to hire a hit man. Gary is assisting on a sting operation with Claudette (Retta), Phil (Sanjay Rao), and Jasper (Austin Amelio)when Retta tells him that Jasper just got suspended for beating up some kids. Jasper was undercover as “The Hit Man” and now they need a replacement. “Gary, you’re up. We don’t have anybody else, you’re gonna have to play “The Hit Man”.

Mild-mannered Gary The College Professor turns on the acting skills and transforms himself into “The Hit Man”, getting his first collar. With Jasper on suspension, and doing so well on the sting, the Chief agrees to let Gary keep playing “The Hit Man” undercover. He gets better and better as he makes each collar. Improvising accents, costumes and even using Hollywood style make-up to change his appearance. He starts doing intensive research on the clients to figure out what they think their “Hit Man” might look and act like. He gets very good at his job.

One day he meets Madison Figueroa Masters (Adria Arjona) at a diner where she is looking to hire him to off her abusive husband. After some witty banter between the two of them, they seem to hit it off and Gary (who is playing the part of “Ron” The Hit Man) decides to talk her out of doing the crime. “Why don’t you take the money and start you a new life?, leave him right now and go get yourself a new place.” She takes his advice and several weeks later sends “Ron” a text and invites him to a charity function.

They become romantically involved and their relationship does not sit well with her ex-husband. Eventually he tracks down “Ron” the Hit Man and tries to hire him to “take care of his wife”. Things get rather complicated after that for Gary. Madison thinks he is Ron the Hit Man, there is a murder, and a conspiracy involving lots of money. All tied to Madison and Gary, who is leading several different lives and roles at this point.

HIT MAN is based on a true story. In the 1980’s and 90’s, there was a real life Gary Johnson who worked for the Houston police department at night, College professor by day. There was an instance when he talked a woman out of hiring him, and they later became romantically involved. Glen Powell and Richard Linklater wrote the script based loosely on those facts, the rest is glamourized for the sake of the movie. The movie is based in New Orleans, not Houston where the real Gary Johnson lived and worked.

I liked it, thought it was real good. It’s funny and it is a Rom-com(Romance ~ Comedy). The relationship between Gary and Madison was very believable. And watching Gary struggle with trying to keep up the guise of Ron The Hit Man with Madison as they became more involved was almost comical.

The folks liked it as well, having watched it night before last.

That’s a big SIX THUMBS UP!

No Hard Feelings

2023 Sony Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 47min

Comedy ~ Romance

Directed by: Gene Stupnitsky

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Natalie Morales, Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick.

“We are looking for an attractive, kind and intelligent woman, in her early to mid 20s, to “date” our son and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college in the fall. In exchange, we’ll give you a clean, rust free, 40k mile Buick Regal, serious inquiries only.”

Jennifer Lawrence stars as 32 year old Maddie Barker. The Movie opens with her car being towed out of her driveway by an ex-boyfriend, who has a contract with the county to tow their seized property. She now has no way to continue her Uber job, which is how she makes her money for the year over the summer, driving the rich people around town that come to vacation at the beach town of Montauk, New York. She is behind on paying her property taxes and in danger of losing her Mother’s house she inherited and lives in.

Sara(Natalie Morales), Maddie’s best friend, sees an ad on Craigslist. The only true part of the movie(there was a real Craigslist ad that inspired the movie), the rest is fiction: “Need a car for college? “Date” our 19 year old son this summer. He is a wonderful young man, extremely smart, but socially very shy. He’s never had a girlfriend and we have tried everything. We are looking for an attractive, kind and intelligent woman, in her early to mid 20s, to “date” him and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college in the fall. In exchange, we’ll give you a clean, rust free, 40k mile Buick Regal, serious inquiries only.”

Maddie decides to take the offer seeing it as a solution to her financial crisis. She agrees to meet with the parents Laird and Allison Becker(Matthew Broderick and Natalie Morales) and they hire her for the job of bringing their son out of his shell in exchange for the car. The next day she puts on a short dress and heels and goes down to the animal shelter where Laird and Allison’s son Percy(Andrew Barth Feldman) is working as a volunteer.

Maddie pretends to want to adopt a dog, completely hitting on a very nervous Percy throughout the process. She convinces Percy to let her give him a ride home. When they get to Maddie’s house Percy, being completely terrified that he has been kidnapped by a psycho woman and taken to her house instead of his, sprays Maddie with Mace. After Maddie screams at him that she was just trying to be a friend, he sprays her down with a garden hose to wash out the mace. Feeling really bad at spraying her with mace, Percy agrees to go on a date with Maddie the next day to get better acquainted.

I had my doubts in the very beginning of the movie when Jennifer Lawrence is on a comedic tirade about the reasons her ex shouldn’t tow her car away. It was a little cheesy right off the bat but it quickly grew on me, very quickly. I found myself laughing out loud shortly thereafter. And as hard as Maddie tries to seduce Percy, he tries even harder to resist. Which is one hilarious journey to watch as the two of them eventually start to have feelings for each other.

During their date, Percy sits down at a piano in the restaurant and plays Maneater(a song by Hall and Oates) at Maddie’s insistence. I was completely impressed by that. Awesome cover solo on a piano. Jennifer Lawrence is completely nude in a scene after the restaurant at the beach, where she convinces Percy to go skinny dipping. Amazingly enough she performs a scene completely nude kicking the crap out of three kids who try to steal their clothes off of the beach. I love this movie, thought it was great, especially after having my doubts in the beginning. The chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman is contagious.

A great romance comedy!

Highly recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!

Find Me Falling

2024 Netflix

Rated: TV-MA

Length: 1 hr 33min

Romance ~ Comedy

Directed by: Stelana Kliris

Starring: Harry Connick Jr., Ali Fumiko Whitney and Agni Scott.

“This area is what you might call, um… what’s the word?…..a suicide hotspot. People come here several times a year to take their lives. Sometimes they even come from abroad. It’s become a bit of a local legend.”

Harry Connick Jr. stars as rock star John Allman who’s last album, which was supposed to be his big comeback album, tanked. He decides to take a break and reflect by escaping to a small town in Greece where he spent time earlier in his life. He buys a house on a seaside cliff on the outskirts of town. He sees a man standing in front of his house and yells at him and the man jumps off the cliff. Shocked he calls the police and the local police Captain comes to investigate telling him he bought what has become a suicide hotspot.

Throughout the movie numerous people come to the cliff to jump and John finds it becomes his mission to stop them. He builds a wire fence and tries to dissuade as many as possible. As the story goes on he meets a young woman who delivers groceries to his house from the local store and later he sees her singing in the local bar. As it turns out she is the daughter of an ex girlfriend he was involved with here many years ago.

So there’s an old flame, a daughter that seems to be connected to his life somehow, and a lot of suicidal people he tries to save. And a lot of beautiful scenery. I’ve never been to Greece and don’t know much about the culture, but I could definitely hang out in that seaside town for awhile. The story was ok but I didn’t really feel that involved in the characters as it went along. It just didn’t feel sincere or as intimate between two ex-lovers as it should have been.

I like Harry Connick Jr. but this seemed a little slow to me, kind of boring and cliche without a lot of commitment. And the tattoos you see on him in the movie are completely fake by the way.

So not really for me.

One thumb up, the other down…..don’t jump.

Passengers

2016 Columbia Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 56min

Sci-Fi ~ Romance ~ Drama

Directed By: Morten Tyldum

Starring: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, and Andy García.

“Say you were trapped on a desert island, and you had the power to wish somebody there with you. You wouldn’t be alone anymore, but you’d be stranding the person on the island. Would you make that wish?”

Chris Pratt stars as Jim Preston, a mechanic travelling aboard the Starship Avalon. He is one of 5000 Passengers and 258 Crew headed for the planet Homestead II as part of a colonization program. The ship is on autopilot and everyone aboard is in suspended animation sleep in hibernation pods during the 120 year voyage from Earth to Homestead II. The ship encounters a meteor shower and is damaged by a meteorite that gets past the ship’s protection shield. Jim’s hibernation pod malfunctions and he is wakened 90 years too early.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as Aurora Lane, a writer making the voyage to write a story about the voyage and the Planet Homestead II. Over the year Jim is awake alone on the ship he sees Aurora in her hibernation pod and becomes obsessed with her and her passenger profile video. After many alcohol fueled arguments with himself and a failed suicide attempt, he decides he is going to wake her up by making her pod malfunction.

What follows is the story of how they grow together and fall in love as they deal with being the only two people awake on a spaceship damaged by a meteorite for the next 90 years. With the exception of Arthur(Michael Sheen) the humanoid bartender they share their lives with and a brief appearance by Deck Chief Gus Mancuso(Laurence Fishburne) after his pod malfunctions, they share in an adventure of life, love and peril alone as they hurl through the heavens towards Homestead II.

I have seen this movie several times and love it. The chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt is great. It’s as if you were right there with them through all they experience. An excellent Sci-fi Romance Drama!

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!