I never contemplated what Andy Griffith's face would look like during orgasm, and I curse this atrocious and shoddy romantic comedy for making Griffith do it and making anyone watch it.
Play the Game (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:29
Fresh:8
Rotten:21
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: Andy Griffith is his usually likable self, but he's stranded in a middling comedy that's surprisingly tasteless and poorly crafted.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sexual content and language
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Aug 28, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $456,536
Synopsis:
Writer/Director Marc Fienberg’s PLAY THE GAME is an original comedy with surprising and clever twists about a young ladies' man, David, who teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed...
Writer/Director Marc Fienberg’s PLAY THE GAME is an original comedy with surprising and clever twists about a young ladies' man, David, who teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed grandfather Joe, while playing his best mind games to meet Julie, the woman of his dreams. But as David's supposedly foolproof techniques fail him, Grandpa Joe quickly transforms into the Don Juan of the retirement community. Slowly, the teacher becomes the student, and it's up to Grandpa to teach David that the best way to win the game of love is not to play games at all. But both David and Grandpa Joe may have met their match in more ways than one, leading to a surprise twist ending that makes the audience look back at the entire film in a new light.
As a bonus, PLAY THE GAME presents three beloved television stars – Andy Griffith, Doris Roberts, and Liz Sheridan – in "romantic" situations as you've never seen them before, and continues Andy’s meteoric career renaissance that began with last year’s indie darling, Waitress. --© Official Site
Starring: Andy Griffith, Paul Campbell, Liz Sheridan, Doris Roberts
Starring: Andy Griffith, Paul Campbell, Liz Sheridan, Doris Roberts, Marla Sokoloff, Clint Howard, Rance Howard, Geoffrey Owens, Juliette Jeffers
Director: Marc Fienberg
Director: Marc Fienberg
Screenwriter: Marc Fienberg
Producer: Marc Fienberg
Composer: Jim Latham
Studio: Slowhand Cinema
Reviews for Play the Game
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.
There's a good comedy to be made about sex among seniors, but the low-budget indie film Play the Game is not that movie.
It isn't great movie-making, but it is a cheeky good time -- even if you've never wondered what Opie's pa would look like after a jolt of Viagra.
This isn't so much sitcom fare as dinner-theatre material, directed without an ounce of style or panache and played more broadly than an old vaudeville routine.
Although occasionally slow Play the Game receives a boost from its capable cast. It's fun to see an old dog learn new tricks.
The scene in which Alzheimer's is played as a dating dealbreaker is as stunningly tasteless as Fienberg's zooming-in on Joe's face when he receives his first blowjob.
While Fienberg's direction is no great shakes, the film showcases its veteran cast.
one of those endearingly cute, funny movies you'll see on cable and wonder why studios don't put their marketing machine behind this kind of film instead of the typical garbage we get passed off on us as summer 'entertainment.'
Smart screenplay, good directing. Except for Griffith, casting is wrong.
Play the Game has all kinds of good intentions, but the comedy is too broad and the pacing is clumsy. Take away the dirty parts, and this is the type of thing you can get for free on the Hallmark Channel every day.
Veering between syrupy sweet and awkwardly dirty, Play the Game is a woefully scoreless exercise.
The good news is that the seemingly perennial TV fixture is still funny and sharp and folksy. The bad news is that he lost the bet, or whatever it was that got him into Marc Fienberg's smarmy, lackluster comedy.
Griffith improvises an orgasm that seems to last as long as the entire eight-year run of The Andy Griffith Show.
Did you ever wonder what face Andy Griffith makes when he's having an intimate moment with a lady friend? Me neither. Yet that's one of many "delights" foisted on us during writer-director Marc Fienberg's feature-length debut comedy.
There have been many things in this world I never thought I would see, and watching Andy Griffith receive, umm, "oral pleasure" was one of them
Heartwarming, clever and very, very funny. It's a genuinely charming, uplifting and crowd-pleasing gem that must be seen by generations, young and old.
Hearing Griffith say, 'David, grandpa's horny,' is not something anyone should have to experience.
Latest News for Play the Game
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July 26, 2009:
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