A Review of Role Play by Nick Olszyk
Distribution: Amazon Prime
MPAA Rating, R
USCCB Rating, Not Rated at the Time of This Review
Reel Rating, One Reel
When
a couple receives the sacrament of marriage, they agree to give themselves
completely to one another, “forsaking all others.” This implies not only sexual
fidelity but anything in life (career, ambition, money, possessions) that might
come between them. Perhaps there is not a worse example than Emma Bracket
(Kaley Cuoco) who takes the moniker of “a double life” to a new level. She
claims that her marriage to Dave (David Oyelowo) is her “everything” but
secretly crisscrosses the globe as an international assassin, keeping him and
their kids in the dark for almost a decade. There are many ways director Thomas
Vincent could handle this. Perhaps a lighthearted comedy? Or a dark, brooding
mediation on truth? Unfortunately, Role Play is unable to commit to a
tone and instead becomes a dull, chaotic mess. Somehow Emma and Dave make it
through, but their victory is little comfort to the audience that had to endure
this two-hour train wreck.
Emma
and Dave, a nice, modern couple with two kids, a mid-size house, and dual
incomes, have hit the seven-year itch hard. In fact, Emma completely forgot
their anniversary. They decided to try something new to “spice things up.” They
will meet in the bar of an upscale hotel and pretend to be someone else – just
two middle aged single people hooking up after a hard day. Yet when Dave
arrives, he finds an older man flirting with his wife. The rest of the evening
continues to devolve as he gets drunk and falls asleep rather than engaging in
any martial activities. He is shocked to learn the next morning that this
stranger was murdered in his hotel room. When his wife announces a sudden
business trip to Nebraska, he is left even more bewildered until an FBI agent
shows up at his house with evidence of Emma’s real vocation. Despite this duplicity,
he is determined to find his wife and save his family, leading to betrayal,
kidnapping, murder, and role play that is anything but sexy.
In
any relationship, people fulfill certain roles, which might be genuine or
pretend. Dave is a loving husband and father who is content with the classic
nuclear model. Emma, however, tries to be both a deadly hitman and a middle
American wife. It is unclear which is real or pretend. She claims she always
wanted domestic bliss but never left her profession. Either way, she should
have been honest from the beginning. Such dishonesty would be clear grounds for
annulment, although it is admirable that neither party seems intent on leaving
after the revelation. Their willingness to work together and adapt is the
film’s sole redeeming quality.
This
gimmick could have worked, but the film is just so, so terrible. The most
glaring difficulty is the lead actress’s performance. Kaley Cuoco rose to
prominence as the ditzy hot neighbor to nerdy physicists on The Big Bang
Theory, and her producer credit here suggests she chose this project to
deliberate throw off that image. It doesn’t work. She still appears sweet and
kind, even while trying to play tough. The story is also a mess with characters
appearing and disappearing without any development. The central villain works
for the FBI but then really is a criminal overload but also raised Emma as
child…it’s all very confusing. The film makes a critical narrative error too by
revealing Emma to be an assassin before discussing her normal life. It would
have been far more thrilling and mysterious for David to gradually discover her
secret with the audience.
Like
thousands of other films lying in the graveyard of streaming code, Role Play
is boring and forgettable, which is a real shame. Dynamic films that explore
the complexities of married life are rare even though most Americans are not
attractive young single adults. We deserve great art too.
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