Movie review: 'Game Plan' follows playbook for success

The Rock, and a cute kid, enliven this disarming family comedy.

By Jeff Strickler, Star Tribune

Last update: September 27, 2007 - 4:39 PM

When the folks at Disney come up with a winning idea, you can count on seeing it again. Sure enough, two years after the studio struck blockbuster gold with "The Pacifier" by juxtaposing a muscular he-man with cute-as-a-button kids, here comes "The Game Plan" following the same concept.

And despite the fact that we've seen it all before, it works. In fact, it works even better this time. Credit the casting for that. Dwayne Johnson (aka pro wrestling's the Rock) stars in the new film, exuding just as much machismo, but much more charisma than the star of the earlier movie, Vin Diesel. Johnson's range enables him to segue from stereotypical tough guy to slapstick fall guy without missing a single comedic beat.

He plays Joe Kingman, a pro football quarterback with an ego the size of Texas. He has it all -- fame, fortune and an army of adoring fans. But he also has something he doesn't know about: a 7-year-old daughter named Peyton (a Peyton Manning gibe, perchance?) who was the product of one last fling with his ex-wife.

Played by Madison Pettis, Peyton shows up on his doorstep and announces that her mother is leaving the country for a month on business. Ergo, she is now Joe's responsibility. Very little of what ensues is even remotely surprising. Joe goes through the classic stages of sudden parenthood -- denial followed by panic followed by chaos -- before making the inevitable discovery that all the cheering in the world can't make him feel as good as a hug from his child does.

Director Andy Fickman ("She's the Man") doesn't try to get fancier than his material. He realizes that the stars' personalities are the movie's strongest assets, and he gives them plenty of leeway to make the most of their allure. Pettis (cable TV's "Cory in the House") successfully walks that narrowest of lines between being precocious and obnoxious. And Johnson has a million-watt smile that he doesn't hesitate to unleash at full power.

Football buffs, take note: Fickman also likes sports. As he did with "She's the Man," which was about soccer, he stages several scenes in which the camera is set up right in the center of the action.

But this movie isn't aimed at NFL fans -- unless they also happen to be parents of pint-sized viewers who think that silliness is an art form. And that gives "The Game Plan" the look of a winner.

Jeff Strickler • 612-673-7392

Jeff Strickler • jstrickler@startribune.com