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Join UsStar Cast: Kaley Cuoco, David Oyelowo, Bill Nighy, and Connie Nielsen.
Director: Thomas Vincent
What’s Good: Cuoco and Oyelowo have enough charisma to carry the entire film on their shoulders, and it is actually fun to see them out of their comfort zone.
What’s Bad: The story is too predictable, and the plot might be copied from hundreds of other movies, but The Long Kiss Goodnight is not.
Loo Break: The middle of the movie sags a bit as the story tries to get to where the character makes their final decisions, but it could be more compelling.
Watch or Not?: Only watch if you are in the mood for something you have seen many times before.
Language: English (with subtitles).
Available On: Amazon Prime Video
Runtime: 101 Minutes.
User Rating:
Amazon Prime Video is the most significant streaming service after the giant that is Netflix, and yet, they cannot crack the formula when it comes to delivering movies or films that resonate with the audience. The Boys might be their most successful show, but it still feels small. And so comes Role Play, a new Amazon original film that tries to tap into the more casual audience who are just searching for something fun to watch, and at least in that regard, the film succeeds at being an excellent way to kill a hundred minutes.
Role Play Movie Review: Script Analysis
In 1996, director Renny Harlin and writer Shane Black gave the world The Long Kiss Goodnight, a movie that tells the story of a woman living an everyday life only to discover that she is a secret agent and a killing machine. Since then, an entire genre of retired assassins has found their home in cinema, and at this point in time, it seems like these stories have managed to find their own formula, but sadly, they tend to stick to the formula a bit too much, which ends up not creating opportunities to find something new and creative.
Role Play manages to play the story of the retired assassin to the teeth, and it seems like every plot point throughout the movie has already been set in your mind, which results in zero surprises. This is a shame because Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo are doing their best to present themselves as a couple. Their chemistry lacks a bit, but that is the point: they are supposed to be a tedious, average couple. If only the story would go to more exciting places, the movie would be much better.
This is the big issue with Role Play; for a movie that deals with a woman trying to protect her family life from her life as an assassin, very little feels at risk. We are told that the characters will lose a lot, but we don’t see it, and without this setup, every stake feels hollow. The movie tries to spice things up a bit with action sequences sprinkled throughout the film, but they need to be more flashy to add much to the story, and many of the action bits are played off-camera, which feels like a cop-out.
When it comes to the characterization and character writing, the film does a solid job at introducing the characters, but it definitely has a hard time developing them further; actually, you could say that there is very little, if any, character development in this movie, the characters make choices, sure, but these choices are already faithful to who they are at the start of the film. This approach to storytelling is acceptable, but don’t expect to see great revelations or deep internal conflicts from these characters.
Role Play Movie Review: Star Performance
The film’s story is very standard, predictable, and flat at times, but thankfully, the movie has two great leads, Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo, and they are the film’s saving grace. Cuoco is primarily famous for her legendary role in The Big Bang Theory, and there she brings her charisma to a role that has a; with her, the movie would break down completely, and it would be very dull. You can always appreciate the importance of a performance in a film; here, Cuoco gives us the perfect example.
David Oyelowo is also a fantastic actor, but here he is, playing more of a straight man to Cuoco’s fabulous chick. The dynamic feels like the one we saw in last year’s Ghosted, one of the worst films of 2023. Role Play manages to avoid the same fate as Ghosted because even when both actors lack chemistry, it fits the narrative and makes everything feel more grounded and honest within the rules of the film’s universe.
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Role Play Movie Review: Direction, Music
Thomas Vincent takes the director role in this film, and in some ways, the film feels like a step down from his previous works in almost every aspect. The director has proven he can create tension and emotion and display action very well, but in this movie, everything feels watered down. Maybe that was the point of trying to make a very approachable movie, but the result was delivering a film with a tiny personality; it is still entertaining, but once it is over, it is very forgettable.
Rael Jones composed the score, and he draws from many places, including classic spy scores from decades in the past and a bit of fun to scenes that otherwise would be very flat. The score isn’t one that you will be listening to by itself, and it doesn’t come off as memorable either; it just does the work it should be doing.
Role Play Movie Review: The Last Word
Role Play feels like a throwaway movie. The cast does a fantastic job, but the story is so generic that it is hard to believe the creatives believed they were making their best efforts with this one. Ultimately, the execution is good enough to make it a fun movie to watch when you are in the mood to kill time, but there are better movies in this genre and definitely better movies on Prime Video that everyone needs to watch.
Role Play Trailer
Role Play releases on January 12, 2024.
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