A soft Rock won't roll

Published on November 22, 2007

The Game Plan

Cast: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kyra Sedgwick,

Roselyn Sanchez

Directed by Andy Fickman

Running time: 110 minutes

Hanuman ratings: HH

With his meteoric rise in 2002's "The Mummy Returns" and "The Scorpion King", the Rock seemed unstoppable, destined for greatness as a dashing male lead.

But disaster struck when he started doing films like "Game Plan", so dull that even his most ardent fans shied away.

He took another wrong turn with the pseudo-emotional family-friendly stuff, even though he certainly has a flair for comedy.

The Rock works best in strong roles that don't require him to break down in tears, like the bounty hunter in "Rundown".

And he can't be made to look tame. That's what sank him in "Walking Tall", a toned-down remake of the original that starred Joe Don Baker.

His second disaster was "Doom", a pathetic sci-fi flick with no script and even less character development.

It was only 2005's "Be Cool" with John Travolta that saved the Rock's plummeting star. Here, playing a gay bodyguard desperate to break into show business, he showed his knack for offbeat roles.

 "Game Plan" is anything but offbeat. The Rock plays a quarterback who suddenly finds he has a young daughter. It's bad news for fans of his wrestling or of his character in "Scorpion King" - the last thing they'll want to see is their hero discovering the joys of fatherhood.

Unlike Adam Sandler and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who do well opposite young children, the Rock is simply not built for these parts. And neither is that other hard man, Vin Diesel, who crashed and burned in "Pacifier", another colossal Disney disaster.

Seven out of 10 critics in the US have panned the "Game Plan" for more or less the same reasons Hanuman has set down here.

If moviegoers want something exciting, catch "Beowulf" before it's taken off the circuit.

Director Robert Zemeckis has done fantastically well to assemble a great cast headed by Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Robin Wright and John Malkovich for a film that grabs attention.

Both "Game Plan" and "Beowulf" run 110 minutes, but the similarities end there. The first is a hard grind, the second one a long CGI-enhanced adrenaline rush.

While the original "Beowulf" poem has been chopped and changed to serve up a more colourful hero, and the dialogue occasionally jars horribly, it still keeps you strapped to your seat.

The route for the Rock is plain: Seek out roles in movies like "Beowulf" and quit trying to act cute. Because honestly, he doesn't need to.