PLAY THE GAME — ★★ — Paul Campbell, Andy Griffith, Marla Sokoloff; rated PG-13 (vulgarity, profanity, sex, brief drugs, slapstick violence, slurs); Carmike 12; Ritz 15
On one hand, "Play the Game" does offer a substantive movie role to Andy Griffith. And as he proved in the 2007 art-house hit "Waitress," the 80-something actor is still capable of holding our attention and giving a strong performance.
On the other hand, the film does feature Griffith in what may be his first cinematic sex scene. Talk about too much information!
The romantic comedy is also 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.
Also, Griffith is forced to share screen time with a fairly bland lead, TV actor Paul Campbell.
He stars as David Mitchell, a smooth-talking car salesman who is a bit of a "player" when it comes to the ladies.
He's even trying to teach his widower grandfather, Joe (Griffith), some of his tricks and to get the octogenarian to start dating again.
Joe, though, wants a companion. He's set his sights on another retiree, Rose (Doris Roberts). Unfortunately, she's already dating someone else.
And as it turns out, David could learn something about love from watching his sage gramps. The twentysomething has just met the woman of his dreams, Julie Larabee (Marla Sokoloff). But the leery Julie is already wise to David's ways and wants to be "just friends."
This material is so by-the-numbers that you can predict its plot developments well in advance. That includes the supposed "twist" at the end.
So if we have any real investment in these characters and situations, it's more due to the cast's efforts rather than screenwriter/director Marc Fienberg's machinations.
In fact, wily old pros Griffith and Roberts (TV's "Everybody Loves Raymond") deserve their own, different and better movie.
"Play the Game" is rated PG-13 and features crude humor involving, and references to, sexual functions, other bits of off-color humor, scattered profanity, simulated sex and other sexual contact (mostly implied or overheard), brief drug content and references (male-enhancement medications), mostly comic violent content (athletics-based violence, as well as some pratfalls and the like), and derogatory language and slurs. Running time: 105 minutes.
e-mail: jeff@desnews.com