Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Footballer's daughter

Here's The Game Plan. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has made a very Disney film, rated PG only to avoid the kiddies-only stigma of G-rated movies.

Even though The Rock Johnson plays an athlete -- a star QB who has yet to win a title -- he's, well, game enough to make you forget about the eyebrow and his past wrestling persona. He's clearly interested in sticking with this acting thing, and good for him.

As the trailer reveals, his heretofore unknown daughter (Madison Pettis) appears on his doorstep just as the playoffs start, with a murkily described need to stay there for a month while her mother is in Africa. He and his agent (Kyra Sedgwick) are no match for the 8-year-old moppet, who has all sorts of enterprising ideas to take over her father's life and make him the dad she never had. She quickly wins over the QB's bulldog and his teammates.

The film gets a lot of mileage with the culture clash (football vs. ballet, bachelor pad vs. family friendly home, mint condition memorabilia vs. bedazzler) and the eventual transformation. Lots of sight gags involving the bulldog. But it's the kind of humor that kids and their parents can appreciate.

Maybe a little scary in places, if children aren't used to watching football, and a plot twist they may not see coming. (I didn't.) But overall the kind of fun family experience you would expect.

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