“The Gameplan”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Kyra Segwick
Morris Chestnut
Roselyn Sanchez
Madison Pettis
Gordon Clapp
Paige Turco
Brian White
Hayes MacArthur
Jamal Duff
Kate Nauta
Robert Torti

PG           110min           2007

A superstar with an ego bigger than a football field, Joe Kingman (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) is getting ready for a run at the big championship game when the 8-year-old daughter he never knew existed shows up at this not-so-family-friendly bachelor pad. As the big game gets closer, he begins to realize the most meaningful win he can achieve is the heart of the one little fan who counts the most.

“The Game Plan” is a family film geared to a young audience. It’s a Disney film made with the Disney’s sensibility. Johnson did it for the paycheck and his not the star of this show. It’s a family film that the kids will like and parents can tolerate.

It is a family film. There is not that much adult humor in the film. Some of the stuff that Pettis gets away with should lead to some kind of punishment but its laughed off as children will be children. For the most part she is running this household and has daddy wrapped around her finger from the moment he knows she is his.

“The Game Plan” is a film that “The Rock” had to have done for the paycheck. He tries to do comedy but a man that big is struggling to make it funny. He is still trying to ride the wave of his Saturday Night Live success. Most of his team mates are so much more forgiving than real life. Then to top it off he is not the star of his own top bill film.

Madison Pettis and Kyra Segwick steal the show from him every time they are on the screen. Pettis is the highlight of this film and is just adorable and obnoxious at the same time. Segwick as Johnson’s agent is funny the moment she hits the screen. She created a character with quirks that funny to watch; it shows why she is an underrated talent in Hollywood.

As this is a Disney DVD “The Game Plan” has many specialized special features. It has blooper and deleted with commentary by Marv Albert. There is a fictional ESPN bio piece on Joe King hosted by Stuart Scott. A featurette on Johnson learning the fundamentals of Quarterbacking is one of about four other featurettes. There are movie previews for “101 Dalmations: Special Edition”, “Wall E”, “Enchanted”, “Tinker Bell”, “Snow Buddies”, “The Aristocats”, and “Twitches Too”.

I give it 3/5.

“Sydney White”

Amanda Bynes
Sara Paxton
Matt Long
Jack Carpenter
Jeremy Howard
John Schneider
Crystal Hunt
Adam Hendershott
Danny Strong
Samm Levine
Libby Mintz
Donté Donner

PG13           108min           2007

When tomboy Sydney (Bynes) is banished from the most popular sorority on campus, she is taken in by seven socially challenged but endangering guys. With the help of her new friends, Sydney stands up for outcasts everywhere and takes on the reigning campus queen in a popularity showdown! But can she succeed and also win the heart of gorgeous frat guy Tyler Prince? You’ll love this hilarious and sweet age-old story with a charming modern-day twist!

“Sydney White” is better than my perceived expectation. It is an amusing tale that the kids may not get all the jokes but is ok to watch. It has a message that kids of all ages should her. The young cast is interesting in their respective parts.

Snow White and her seven dwarfs, or little people to be PC are reconceived as Syndey White and her seven “dorks”. It is a live action version that I like a little better than the original tale. My perceived expectation may me think that this was a terrible interpretation based of its box office performance. It is geared to a younger audience but it is bearable and even enjoyable by an older audience.

As the tale is reconceived from a Disney tale it is somewhat geared to a younger audience but the story is more mature. Some of the subject matter kids are facing younger and younger. In the end, though “Sydney White” has a message that all should here about accepting one self and embracing your differences… “I’m a dork.”

This is a talented young cast. It is lead by Amanda Bynes someone who in her young years grasps the art of comedy better than comedians three times her age. The dorks all play their parts by many characters actors familiar and not so familiar to many audience. Just as in Snow White, you root for the “dorks” in all their endeavors.

There are several special featurette. It has the standard gag reel and deleted scenes. There is a featurettes highlighting the director, bynes and long, the “dorks”, the kappas, the skooze, and the vortex. The movie previews on this DVD are ”Bring It On: In It To Win It” and “Veggie Tales: Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything”.

I give it 3/5.

“Sex and Breakfast”

Macaulay Culkin
Kuno Becker
Eliza Dushku
Alexis Dziena
Jaime Ray Newman
Tracie Thoms
Eric Lively
Joanna Miles

R           82min           2006

James (Macaulay Culkin) and Heather (Alexis Dziena) along with Ellis (Kuno Becker) and Renee (Eliza Dushku) are two twenty-something couples whose lives are intertwined as they experiment with group sex as a way to sort out the rudiments of a successful relationship – sex, love, and communication. After a series of mishaps fueled by jealously, confusion and insecurities, they soon find that true love and lasting relationships (at their core) are ultimately about more than sex and breakfast.

“Sex and Breakfast” is a film that I picked up because “you can never have too much… Faith.” I try not to let my preconception influence me but this film was a disappointment. It’s not “End of Days” bad but its not really worth the time to watch. There is not point to the film and the couples on screen are mismatch to begin with.

I expected so much more from this film based on the actors in the film. The acting was flat and seemed forced. All the actors seemed to be uncomfortable with the subject matter and were going through the motion. The entire film looked like it was a filmed dress rehearsal.

After its said and done “Sex and Breakfast” is a waste of time. There is not point to the story. The reason the characters do what they do makes no sense. For the most part half of each couple is doing it for inferred self-centered reasons. Leaving me question why these four people are couples anyway.

“Sex and Breakfast” is formulaic and predictable if you have watched enough films. The couples react to the situation in the predictable fashion, it leaves wondering why this film was made, and who thought these actors would make sense as couples. Although she does, a competent job Alexis Dziena looks to be about twelve and it kind of feels like Eric Lively and Macaulay Culkin were pedophiles.

There are no special features or behind the scene featurettes. It does have several movies either on the video shelf or coming to the video shelf from “Look Out Films”. The movie previews are for: “King of California”, “Smiley Faces”, “The Amateurs”, “Blonde and Blonder”, “Strays”, “Paris Je T’aime”, “Broken”, “The Contract”, “The Journey to the End of the Night”, “Big Nothing”, “Mr. Fix It”, “Relative Strangers”, “They and Girls Guide to Getting Down”.

I give it 1/5.