A young man meets and instantly falls in love with an engaged woman.
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I love this movie so much
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Rom-Coms are not the easiest to make. If you try to make a real good one that is. But even the "bad" ones make their money back mostly. And I wouldn't categorize this as a bad one. Does it have some misplaced dialog and some clichés in it? Yes, though it's not the first one to do so and its lead actors are charming enough for you to not care too much about that.While the inevitable outcome is predictable, there may be a few obstacles along the way that are kind of refreshing to see. And while our main protagonist could easily slip into unlikeable territory, Chris Evans is there to save him from that fate. No pun intended, for a decent effort. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less either
Before I get into my core impressions I want to say overall I was mostly entertained. I am a big Michelle Monaghan fan, ever since I saw her in 'Fort Bliss' where she is so good as the soldier and mother trying to strike a balance in her life. Chris Evans also has his moments. But overall it also misses the mark quite often, and then they threw in some unnecessarily "dirty" stuff for no reason at all, it does nothing to advance the story. It just cheapens the mood.Chris Evans is a writer, we don't really get a good idea of his complete backstory except that his mom left when he was just a young boy and his grandfather, old reliable Philip Baker Hall, mostly raised him. That is mainly the reason the script gives us for his not believing in love ever after. However by chance he meets Michelle Monaghan and they just seem to mesh, and we literally see sparks when their hands touch.The problem is she has a long-term boyfriend, a nice and successful guy played by Brit Ioan Gruffudd. In fact as the story moves along they get engaged. But taking advice from his granddad who rescued his own eventual wife from a likely bad marriage, he is determined to hunt down the place in San Francisco where the wedding will be held and set things straight. He feels he has to keep this lady.The movie is filled with various comedic actors, including Topher Grace, Aubrey Plaza, Luke Wilson, Martin Starr, and Anthony Mackie. The story and dialog are very uneven, working well at times and working poorly at other times. It is a good lesson in why really good scriptwriters are so successful. SPOILERS: For my own recollection, when he finally tracks down the site of the outdoor wedding he finds her alone, sitting in the grass in her wedding dress. She stopped it at the last minute, realizing she did not love the guy, so now she could find real happiness with a down-and- out writer.
I rated this movie with 3 stars, because I actually like Chris Evans. The movie, though, is awful! The storyline sucks and doesn't have anything interesting in it. It is so cliché, my eyes hurt. The characters don't have any depth and many of them have no reason to be in this movie in the first place. The whole sketch thing is something out of a bad parody movie. I screeched every time those sketches showed up. I liked the whole idea with the heart being outside of his body and actually be portrayed by him, but they didn't take very good advantage of that. I liked how Evans and Monaghan played their roles, but there is only so much you can do with a bad script. In conclusion, it is a silly movie, that got me to crack a smile or two a few times, but it didn't do anything else. I kept checking how much time I had left of this movie, because I owed to the people that worked for this film to at least finish it. Let's just say that it is definitely a movie I won't ever see again, even if I randomly find it while channel surfing. It was sad seeing Michelle Monaghan in a movie like this one and it concerning seeing Evans play in a movie like this, since the only major things he has done by now are Marvel movies. I'd hate to see his acting career drive of the bridge like that, when he is only starting.
Playing It Cool tells the story of a guy(Chris Evans), who doesn't believe in love. He is a screenwriter by profession. He is told to write a script for a romantic comedy by his boss, Bryan(Anthony Mackie). Being someone who doesn't believe in the concept of falling in love but would rather keep it casual with every girl he meets, he struggles to write the script. He seeks ideas & inspiration from his group of friends including, Scott(Topher Grace), Mallory(Aubrey Plaza), Lyle(Martin Starr), & Samson(Luke Wilson) on matters regarding love. However, he fails to get inspired. When a woman(Michelle Monaghan) enters his life, he starts falling for her. However, things get complicated when he finds out that she's in a relationship with a guy named Stuffy(Ioan Gruffudd). Playing It Cool is my new favorite romantic comedy. Though the ending is predictable & follows the classic romantic comedy formula, the movie itself rarely goes in the direction of clichés. Even when it does, the characters of the film are very aware of it & mock themselves or others for it. Another thing I love about the movie is that it's a romantic comedy told from the male perspective. This film is totally out of the box because till the end of the movie, we never find out the hero & heroine's names. I don't think this has ever been done before. Chris Evans is unforgettable as the Narrator. It's nice to see Evans play a character who is a player & a habitual liar, which is the complete opposite of Steve Rogers/Captain America, his most famous character. Evans excels not just in the comedic moments but, in the emotional scenes as well. Evans' narration is the heart & soul of the film. Michelle Monaghan is outstanding as Her. The chemistry between Chris Evans & Michelle Monaghan is natural & electrifying. Topher Grace is great as Scott. Aubrey Plaza is brilliant as Mallory. Martin Starr is hilarious as Lyle. Luke Wilson is good as Samson. Ioan Gruffudd is impressive as Stuffy. Philip Baker Hall is spectacular as Granddad. Anthony Mackie is awesome as Bryan. The supporting characters are effective. Playing It Cool is a must watch for women who love romantic comedies & men who are skeptical of them.