HotToastyRag Remember Gerard Butler, the hunky heartthrob of the early 2000s? Well, at the tail end of his career, he made a film about a has-been who gets a second chance to figure out what really matters. The lessons he learns are a bit corny, and most of the side characters are pretty one-dimensional, but Gerard's hair is cute and curly and he does have his signature shirtless scene, so it's not all bad.He's a former soccer star who tries to reconnect with his son, Noah Lomax, and his ex-wife, Jessica Biel. I'm not sure if the audience is supposed to think he's a bad dad or if that part of the film is supposed to be heartwarming in an "Aw, he doesn't know what he's doing and neither do I" kind of way, but my thoughts belonged in the former category. Meanwhile, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman, and Judy Greer all develop crushes on the new dad in town. Dennis Quaid adds extra star power to the cast, playing Uma's clueless husband who just thinks of Gerard as a pal. Like his character, nobody else is written to be particularly likable or compelling. Jessica Biel's character is the only one with a backbone, but as soon as Gerard starts working his charms, she turns into jelly just like everyone else. I guess the lesson of the film is if you have beautiful hair, a charming accent, and a signature shirtless scene, you can get away with anything. But, fans who remember him in all his former glory will probably end up sitting through this "feel good flick". I did.

studioAT Gerard Butler proved in 'PS. I Love you' that A) he can't do an Irish accent and B) that he can do well in this sort of throw away romantic comedy, so it's no surprise to see him popping up as the headliner in this all star comedy.It's a decent enough film. It has some good laughs and a fair bit of heart. I don't think all of the characters work, or that the casting of them is as spot on as it could be. I liked Jessica Biel in her role though, she did well.It's a passable enough film, but one I don't think anyone is ever going to claim is their favourite film ever.

Bruce722 The fact that Playing For Keeps received such poor reviews doesn't surprise me because movie critics are some of the most closed minded individuals on the planet and this movie doesn't fit into one of their predetermined little genres. It is too raunchy to be a family movie, doesn't focus on relationships or drama enough to be a romantic-comedy, doesn't involved enough soccer to be a sports movie, and doesn't have the proper type of humor to be dude movie. What it is, however, is just an all-around decent film. There's nothing great about it but it does everything pretty good. The cast is great, though they are a bit underwhelming and underutilized in the film, and they provide solid performances, albeit a bit cliché. The plot is decent enough to keep you engaged. Is it predictable? Of course it is but so are 99% of movies made nowadays so that's nothing new. All in all, I think most open-minded viewers will enjoy this as a pretty good all-around movie, nothing more, nothing less.

Tom Enjoyable movie to watch, but painful to see the web of lies related to being in a relationship. Cheating, the lies, lust, sex. Wow. If this is what it's like in real life, I rather be single.Too bad the children are always caught in the middle of these things.Overall, it was an.......entertaining movie to say the least. Direction was excellent, cinematography was excellent, acting was excellent.You know the synopsis already. A former superstar in the world of soccer is having financial difficulties, divorced, and seem like nothing is going for him. All that turns around when he starts coaching peewee soccer....