The Chaperone

I watched this on Amazon streaming movies. I was attracted to it mainly because it is set and filmed in places I used to live, I am always curious to see how the moviemakers handle that.

It is a theme used many times, a man gets out of prison after 7 years and has to try to get back in the good graces of his family. In this case it is mostly the young daughter who is about 12 years old. Paul Levesque is an imposing man, playing the ex-con Ray Bradstone who his old robbery mates called "Ray-Ray." In prison he has become a changed man and just wants to go by Ray. And get his family back.

Ray's daughter is in school in Lafayette (where I went to college some years back) and her class is taking an overnight trip to New Orleans. Ray quite accidentally gets to be a chaperone, much to the chagrin of his daughter. While the kids are trying to enjoy the field trip Ray is being hounded by his former partners who think he has the money from a botched robbery of the bank in Lafayette the day before.

The arc of the story is pretty predictable but I found it interesting to see how they got there. The movie overall is entertaining enough. Interestingly the daughter is played by Ariel Winter who probably was 12 during filming but doesn't seem to be in the cast credits. She was so small, it was quite a sight to see her standing or walking next to Levesque.

Plus the Lafayette scenes were filmed in Algiers near the bridge, not far from where my wife grew up and went to school, just across the river from downtown New orleans while the New Orleans scenes were filmed in and near downtown and the French Quarter.

Not a bad movie at all, just lightweight.

Though I'm no wrestling fan, I am very familiar with the media presence of "Triple H" (Paul Levesque). Who says (former) wrestlers can't make the big screen? The Rock, Mr. T (before he switched to pro boxing), The Hulkster, Andre the Giant, etc.

Levesque is actually well-fitted in this role, and very convincing; for his first actual big screen debut. He certainly can act; no doubt about that. The on-screen chemistry he shares with costar, veteran actress Annabeth Gish, is the most surprising. They play brilliantly off each other. Gish is even more gorgeous today, especially in this film, than during her 80's 'Mystic Pizza' days where she portrayed mostly straight-laced, virginal school girl roles. And with more than 30 films to her credit, including a few television appearances, she certainly has earned icon status.

This film does NOT disappoint. I originally streamed it off Netflix, curious - seeing that "Triple H" was in the title. Again, very impressive. A must-see indeed.

After serving time in prison "Ray Bradstone" (Paul Levesque) is finally released and returns to his home only to find that his ex-wife "Lynne" (Annabeth Gish) and his young, teenage daughter "Sally" (Ariel Winter) have started a new life on their own and want nothing to do with him. To make matters even worse, he finds extreme difficulty finding a job and as a result reluctantly teams up with some of his former colleagues who are planning a bank heist and want him to be wheel man. Right before that, however, he learns that Sally is going on a field trip to New Orleans and the teacher in charge named "Miss Miller" desperately needs a chaperone to help her out. Being terribly conflicted and confused he decides to join the school field trip at the last minute. The problem is that his decision is at the exact same time the bank robbery is in progress. Not only that, but as the school bus leaves the burglars all believe that Ray has double-crossed them and has absconded with their stolen loot. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay family-comedy which suffered from a predictable plot and a rather weak script. Fortunately, both Paul Levesque and Annabeth Gish turned in solid performances and because of that I have rated this film accordingly. Average.

I watched this movie only because of Triple h.

Now after watching it, i can tell you that triple h is big asset for this movie. Agreed the plot is really week but Triple h keeps the combo solemn and silly plot points rolling nicely along, and displays a surprisingly tender side that meshes smoothly with his more ferocious tendencies.This is the kinda movie you can enjoy watching with your kids and that is all it is.

Triple h does a good performance and never once throughout the movie you would think he couldn't deliver. There is a decent mix of everything in this movie...few funny scenes like the bank robbery , good sentiment and some action ! Not a bad entertainer at all.

My Rating - 6 out of 10!

If you think this movie is bad ... plz don't ever watch Stan Helsing !!

(Plot) A con filled with regrets is on the run to hide from his troubled past as a criminal. He decides to shield himself by sneaking into his field trip to be The Chaperone.

This wasn't exactly good, but it managed to be a hell of a lot better than I expected. It's fairly genuine in its approach, and Triple H (Paul Levesque) is actually non pretentious and likable, something I can hardly say about him in the WWE. The plot is nothing special and is something we've all seen quite a few times before done in different way. This is the type of family affair that most families will most likely groove to. It has just enough action to do an adequate job for adults, and its innocuous storyline will be just perfect for kids. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's really not that bad of a film. It's well made for the most part, and the cast is rather solid as well. Triple H proves he can be likable after all. He gets lots of digs taken at him for this, but he wasn't too bad at all. Ariel Winter is as cute as a button and she and Triple H play off one another well as Father & Daughter. Winter got on my nerves a couple times with her snotty attitude, but considering the circumstances, it was understandable.

Final Thoughts: It's not something I'm going to watch again. I don't care for Triple H at all, but I give credit where credit is due when it is deserved. It pains me to say this, but it's really not as horrible as you've been lead to believe.

5/10