Role Play

This is basically a gender swap of Mark Wahlburg's "Family Plan", but without the same level of humor or action. The lead actors are fine, the action sequences are well done but waaaay too short. The story is predictable, the humorous bits garner a chuckle at best. It's great to see Kaley branch out, but this doesn't come close to her performance in "Flight Attendant" on Apple TV. I think she deserves a bigger audience, and I'll continue waiting for her to find that true breakout role so she'll no longer just be Penny from The Big Bang Theory. As others have said, it makes for some fine background noise, but ultimately is pretty forgettable.

Role Play is a pretty bad comedy action film about a wife who is an assassin and hiding the secret from her husband and family. Until her past catches up to her and she has to step in and fight for her familys safety.

The plot is forgettable with its tedious script. The plot is similiar to The Family Plan except at least the humor and fun in that film is worth watching. This film lacks the humor and when it tries for laughs it is just pure awkward. The action sequences are boring. The cast ensemble is forgettable. It is nice to see Katey going for the action role. But the script and direction gives them nothing to work with.

It is a boring action film that has a eh story. Boring action and tedious performances.

Why is Role Play getting some backlash? Pretty sure it's because of the genre the audience is expecting before even hitting the play button. If viewing the film from a different perspective then there are plenty of merits on display here.

One being the performances and the chemistry between the actors/actresses. Kaley Cuoco has it in abundance, I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's there I can feel it. Maybe it adaptability, sophistication or sassy sexiness emulating from one scene to another, still clearly she has it here. I'm going in pretty blind as I haven't seen much of her previous work, no Big Bang or Flight Attendant! Secondly David Oyelowo matches her well and their on screen chemistry appears second nature to me. I think one review mentioned they seem cute together, I don't know about that however I do know they seem believable. I didn't doubt their onscreen relationship for one minute which is exactly what you want to get engrossed into a film.

Now going back to adaptability, Kaley Cuoco embraces the role managing to create a balance between cute cuddly lovable wife and mum to deadly badass assassin. When she get down to business she is strong assertive and bold juxtaposed with being playful and cute at home. David Oyelowo manages to bring emotional empathy within the script through his acting once finding out about the truth. What was once his normal family life has a huge flip side that we can see in his expressions is troublesome to say the least.

So who steals the film with the standout scene, it's obviously none other than Bill Nighy. The man in the middle of this triangle has the standout scene of the film in the bar. A slow burner or so in the first twenty minutes soon well and truly warms up with a little Role Play, no pun intended. Soon as the get to the title it gets rather interesting.

Script is where this one struggles for me, I'd say our cast made their own character development and produced mountains out of molehills. It's not until the later that you realise if not for the charisma and humour this could've been way more bland than a two steak, and that isn't me being tough. Seth W. Owen needed a better character development arc to suggest why Emma Brackett (Kaley Cuoco) was unable to leave sooner from being an assassin, yes it does explain, yet it all very loose lacking depth or much interest. Dave Brackett (David Oyelowo) really seems weak running all the way to Berlin for an explanation after all he has heard and been through. Yes I understand it's his wife, it just seemed rather forced.

Thomas Vincent has given us something intriguing for the most part similar to films like Mr and Mrs Smith and True Lies however this one really does fall short towards the climax and is saved by the talented cast of characters they created.

Can't understand the negativity around this film.

It's not supposed to be taken seriously, it's just a fun movie that doesn't expect you to be gripping your seat arms or biting your nails wondering what's going to happen next.

Kaley Cuoco is as good as she always is, especially as she found out she was pregnant whilst shooting it, and has good support from the rest of the cast throughout the movie, especially from David Oleyowo who I've never seen before.

Connie Nielson is always a good watch and she puts her all into the role.

So just sit back with a glass of wine and some popcorn and forget everything else for a while and enjoy the entertainment.

I'm not sure if it's intentional, but this is one of the least chemistry couples I've seen in a while. That affects absolutely the entire film. If they don't mention it in the movie, you never know it's a marriage. Cuoco's performance is probably the reason for this, because apart from the action scenes, her participation is quite flat. Understandably, she is a cold-blooded professional, but you are in front of your husband, the reason why you want to get out of the shady business!

Regarding technical details, only the photography and production design are redeemable. The script, editing and soundtrack are pretty bad. For a 100-minute film, they stretch it like chewing gum to become a feature-length film. A truly horrible edition.

Anyway. It doesn't make me want to recommend a movie like this, because it is neither action nor spy, nor a drama.