Played

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this movie, especially since reviews have stated that much of the script was improvised. The film seemed fairly tightly-scripted to me...perhaps this is a tribute to the cast or director.

I also expected to be put-off by the limited screen time of the major names in the movie. To the contrary, I found it refreshing to have good actors in such small, but crucial, roles. This is the only way to avoid making movies into star vehicles that sacrifice story and direction for the sake of glorifying one or more of the lead characters.

On the other hand, the plot left a bit to be desired. There are quite a few loose ends that never get tied up, including the massive loose end right before the final credits roll. There's a difference between being ambiguous and simply stopping the story in the middle of an arc. This is your basic 2.5-act movie.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie and the characters. There's virtually no character development, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This is worth watching if you enjoy "small" stories about tragedy and get a kick out of a bunch of well-know actors suppressing their desire to be the center of attention.

New contender for worst movie ever. Do not be misled by Val Kilmer's name appearing in the credits, he appears for all of one minute. Reminiscent of Executive Decision's posters who made it appear as though Steven Segal played a central role in the film (even though he disappeared after 5 minutes).

The film has no plot, no story, no point. Worst of all, it has no ending. To date I had listed U-Turn as worst movie ever, but I think Played has taken the bottom spot. It reads as a gangster thriller, but none of the scenes are backed up. They appear more like events that follow each other rather than integral parts of a story. No climax is built up, the love story is stated but never portrayed. Characters dart in and out before any portrayal is required. All in all a complete waste of time.

Best advice: DO NOT WATCH.

Just saw Played at a London screening. Although convoluted at times the many twists and turns in the story climax to a rewarding pay off.

Stand out performances: Val Kilmer is superb in that zany Kilmer way. Gabriel Byrne is not featured enough in Played but when he appears on screen his intensity is gripping.

The lead role is played by Mick Rossi who does a fine job and creates a character that you have empathy for right off the bat, at times he reminded me of a young Al Pacino.

His low key performance works well in a world of pop up colourful characters. Played with it's powerhouse cast and it's street cool is something to watch out for.

"Played" was a decent crime thriller despite it's budget shortcomings.

The plot: Ray (Rossi) is a small-time thief who is framed for a crime he didn't commit. When he gets out of jail, he falls back into the same life.

The budget for this movie was $338,000, so I understand why it was shot on video instead of film. I was worried about that because the usual Lionsgate (shot on video) output is usually terrible ("Green River killer", "Heebie Jeebies"). It actually looks good in most scenes.

Mick Rossi does a fine job as Ray. But the big name stars are only in this for maybe five minutes each. Kilmer does his usual professional work. His dialogue was improvised and it shows. ("You're not gonna Taco, Ray.") Jones plays a good bad guy. Byrne appears stiff and looks like he wants to be anywhere else. I also noticed that almost all the actors are on the phone. It's pretty cheap just to shoot actors talking on a phone.

Overall, "Played" was a satisfactory crime flick, that's a good second or third choice at the video store.

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Beware,this is a real pretender.You see Vinnie Jones and Gabriel Byrne on the poster and you see Val Kilmer is in it too,so it looks all good but then the film starts,shows the actors in alphabetic order and at the end it says:Introducing Mick Rossi.So that's what you get to see,about 88 minutes with Mick Rossi and about 1 minute Gabriel Byrnes and about 2 minutes Val Kilmer,only one who's featured a bit more is Vinnie Jones.So if you want to see a true Mick Rossi film (probably the only one he ever will have a leading part in),check it out,otherwise beware.The story is average too.Mick plays a small time gangster who got a job from the big boys which gets him into lots of trouble.