Playing for Keeps

Probably better described by the original title Playing The Field, this Gerry Butler vehicle from 2012 comes from a tricky period of the star’s development; born in Paisley, just outside of Glasgow, Butler trained as a lawyer rather than as an actor, although he did attend Scottish Youth Theatre. Butler somehow managed to meet, befriend and be remembered as a best buddy by pretty much the entire population of Scotland before heading to LA to take up the mantle as an above-the-title star. Butler was already getting big roles such as Dracula in Dracula 2000, but it was a fairly humble drama, Dear Frankie, that really showed off his leading man chops, while growing his skills as a producer, soon to start controlling his own franchises and making the big deals for himself that allowed him to construct his own bespoke starring roles.

2012’s lush flop Playing for Keeps was one route forward in terms of capturing Butler’s brand of machismo; he plays George Dryer, who an early montage depicts as a sporting powerhouse, with faked footage showing him playing for Celtic, Manchester United, Washington’s DC United and the Scottish national team. The glory days seem to be behind him, and when the story starts proper, Dryer is struggling with a broken marriage and a strained relationship with his son. George Dryer aspires to being a sports anchor on ESPN, rehearsing in his undercrackers, but gains more immediate traction by coaching his son’s soccer team. That gains the attention of his ex-wife (Jessica Biel) who is soon to be married, but can Dyer win the hearts of his team while fending off the advances of multiple attractive women who throw themselves at him, namely soccer mom Judy Greer, agent Catherine Zeta-Jones and the wife (Uma Thurman) of his corrupt, boozy boss (Dennis Quaid)?

Butler has since phased out rom-coms in favour of crowd-pleasing bloody action, and with some success; even Playing for Keeps is a more route one than even a dedicated football fan might expect. Brand names are flaunted without shame, including the football teams named, and ESPN, but even high-end sports car-makers get a punt when Dyer drives and is satisfied by a spanking new spaceship of a bright red Ferrari. Robbie Fox’s script seems intent of showing how Dyer finds maturity by rejecting female attention in favour of resurrecting his family; it’s not particularly a particularly persuasive goal, but at least Gabrielle Muscino’s film seems to have its heart in the right place, even if the grasp of Gerry’s mother tongue is lax. The word w*****r, used on several occasions here, is seen as a proper swear word in the UK, not one to be used freely in front of impressionable kids as it is here.

Playing for Keeps was resting on an underwater 4 per cent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, and that’s hardly fair; this isn’t an aggressively bad movie mistake like say The Ugly Truth, but just a soppy, easy to consume confection that feels a lot like wish fulfilment for Butler, who gets to drive posho cars, date beautiful women, play football and be a good dad as well as an envied media performer. While nobody’s idea of a masterpiece, it’s a low-key, amiable film that loses focus on what it wants to be; popping up on streaming, it’s a flawed movie that’s still an agreeable enough watch for those who dig Butler’s brand of charm. Loin-cloth action in 300 provided the hit that would propel Butler into a dozen tough-guy action movies, taking the mantle from Liam Neeson, but he’s a happy centre for comedy or drama if he can get his mitts on the right script.