“In order to win in the game of love, you have to play the game.”
The catch phrase of the quirky independent feature rings true in Mark Fienberg’s Play The Game. Starring the talents of Andy Griffith, Paul Campbell, Marla Sokoloff, Liz Sheridan and Doris Roberts. This lighthearted comedic tale of finding romance through strategy, no matter what age you are, tries its hardest to branch out to a wide ranged audience. Though the film does have pockets where it falters in its pacing, loosing balance between whether or not the story decides to be a satirical take on the dating game.
The story revolves around David (Paul Campbell) who knows the ultimate list of playing the game in the dating world. When his grandpa Joe (Andy Griffith) comes to him for advice in getting back in the dating game, he makes the adventure of pursuing women. While helping his grandfather learn the tricks, he finds Julie (Marla Sokoloff), a supposed woman of his dreams. From there on it becomes a romantic chase with few humorous shenanigans along the way.
Paul Campbell as the lead David for the first half of the film is one dimensional. His character’s fleshing out does not even start to take place until halfway through, giving you a hard time to really latch onto the slick person that he is. Campbell still makes the best of his character and breathes as much life into the role as possible. Andy Griffith as the spry and lovable Grandpa Joe was entertaining, giving one of the better performances of the feature. Marla Sokoloff as the girl-of-his-dreams Julie is funny, energetic and brings some life onto the screen whenever she comes on. Doris Roberts as Rose was under used, pushed more to the side than imagined and not enough substance to her character. Liz Sheridan appeared as the most interesting character of the bunch, being the spunky and surprisingly horny Edna.
The majority of the movie had some laughs with a little bit of heart that appeared a bit too late. The scene between Griffith and Sheridan was quite surprising and uncomfortable to see at first, though turned out to be pretty amusing. The chemistry between Campbell and Sokoloff was evident with their ease of bouncing off of each other. Campbell, whenever in a scene with Griffith, came off as annoyed and uncomfortable. The cinematography in question was decent, nothing too spectacular but was able to get the story across as clear as can be. Even though this is Mark Fineberg’s first feature length independent film, he still handled the material that he penned himself with grace so to speak. The pacing of the story is a bit off in certain pockets, but overall proves to be a fun, quirky sort of independent romantic comedy that does show sparks of potential from this new director and writer.
Rating: 
