The Game PlanTalented Joe Kingman of the Boston Rebels is undoubtedly one of American Football’s greatest quarterbacks, despite the fact that up until now, he still hasn’t managed to claim a Championship ring. However, even without the ring, Kingman is a legend in his own mind and the screaming hordes of fans and excessive wealth that surrounds him certainly do prove it.

However, Joe does have quite a flaw to his personality, namely his huge ego and his entirely self-centered life, in which outside of himself playing football, nothing else really matters at all. Which is why of course his entire lavish lifestyle gets turned upside down by a surprise visitor on his doorstep…

…his daughter.

If you are looking for some wholesome family entertainment, then you certainly can’t go wrong with Andy Fickman’s (She’s the Man) 2007 family comedy, The Game Plan, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as Joe Kingman (previously of WWE fame in case you were wondering) and little Madison Pettis as the precocious Peyton Kelly.

The movie is one of those straightforward family flicks with the plot pretty much exploring how fun interaction between a very macho and self-centered man and a young ballerina-worshipping girl changes the way he views life and in so doing becomes a better person, and in this regard the film achieves its goal remarkably well, helped out a great deal by some wonderfully tender and VERY comedic acting on the part of Johnson, who by now has well and truly proved beyond all doubt that he really does work well in these kiddy-orientated family films. And while the movie is tinged with the usual heart-sore and tragic moments, these are far outweighed by some truly funny sequences and the overwhelmingly feel good ending, making it the perfect DVD to pull off the shelf on a rainy day and sit down and watch it with your kids.

The musical score and soundtrack are upbeat and the film in general has quite a nice level of energy to it, complementing the fun of the actors’ performances as a whole. There really is little to complain about unless you want to moan about things like predictability and some of the forced acting that the director pulls out of young Pettis and to be honest, if you’re going to moan about things like that then you REALLY aren’t the audience at which this movie is pitched anyway.

Watch and enjoy (and just maybe have that little box of tissues at hand. Well, you never know, do you?)

Related link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_Plan_(film)