Doncha just love actors in the act of acting while acting? Well, actually … Seriously, the plot of Role Play is: a veteran married couple has already resolved that their homelives are unsatisfying, so they decide to have a hotel date where they pretend not to know one another. Lemme ask: have any of you ever tried this? Does the “mysterious stranger” hotel date ever spice up a marriage effectively? To me, I think I’d be constantly saying, “Huh. You remind me of somebody.”
The catch here is that Mrs. Smith is a world-class assassin who has -for at least a decade- withheld this information from her spouse, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies … except without the fun. So what will happen when the pair encounter another world-class assassin in the hotel bar?
Emma and Dave Brackett (Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo) seem to have it all: the marriage, the house, the kids, the relative financial stability. But life is unsatisfying. Alas. One too many “conventions” for mom and once too often cockblocked by the kids, the ‘rents decide to have their anniversary occur with this bizarre date-night theme. The problem here is mom is not only a high-priced assassin, there’s a bounty on her head and somebody has just sold her out. On date night, Bill Nighy walks into the bar looking to collect.
Bill Nighy has got to be either the most ingenious or flat-out stupidest pick for a would-be assassin. I mean, assassins have got to either retire or be killed at some point, right? And while it makes sense that the unassuming Nighy would make a perfect “didn’t see that one coming, did ya?” type of sociopath, doesn’t one reach an age where assassination is for the young?
How could you live that long with such an empty soul? Oh yeah, Donlad Trump; I guess that part is believable enough.
The venue chosen is also odd because, well, everything is on camera. I thought discretion was the trademark of high-priced assassins. And, of course, Dave doesn’t know that Emma kills people for a living; he’s going to find out before the film ends. Honestly, which would freak you out more? Knowing your partner has been having a secret affair for years or knowing your partner is secretly employed as a murderer? I’m thinking this is grounds for divorce, even in Catholic societies.
There is cute in this film. Dave introducing himself to his wife as “Jack Dawson” is a laugh lost on very few. As killer wives go, Cuoco is no Angelina Jolie, but she is believable enough in this Role Play to suspend disbelief. The biggest problem here is that Role Play is a comic film that plays like a drama. Where there should be smiles and laughs there is poison and police grilling. All of which is to say the film works better as a drama except that the drama isn’t believable. Hence, Role Play, you failed at both.
There once was a couple named Brackett
Who wanted to spice up their racket
So they went to an inn
To meet-cute again
Now what’s with the full metal jacket?
Rated R, 100 Minutes
Director: Thomas Vincent
Writer: Seth W. Owen
Genre: Adulting?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Are you cuckoo for Couco?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: This movie is a probable affront to all professional assassins
