Play the Game

Of all of the "artistic" films we saw when we attended the Sedona Film Festival, this mainstream romantic comedy elicited the most heartfelt laughter. It is an unabashedly silly, multi-generational lark about David, a young ladies' man, smoothly played by Omar Adam (LOTS of TV), who regularly visits his elderly grandfather, played by Andy Griffith ("Waitress" and "A Face in the Crowd"), at the assisted living facility where he resides.

Grandpa is depressed and lonely, so our hero starts sharing with him his mind games, the foolproof sales techniques which work equally well when selling expensive automobiles or seducing young women. He insists that all you have to do is "play the game." Grandpa wants nothing to do with dating, he still misses his deceased wife and expects to be lonely until the day (soon, he hopes) he dies.

Our young man works for his father at a high-end new car lot and a nasty piece of work HE is! As played by Clint Howard ("Frost/Nixon" and "Cinderella Man"), we can certainly see why Grandpa is David's parent of choice rather than Dad.

By the time Grandpa is blindsided by a frisky old dame who mixes Viagra in his wine, he has all but given up on life, but now he's beginning to see some possibilities. There are many, many Viagra jokes and Griffith does them justice.

As a side story, our game-playing young man plays touch football with his chums on the weekends. A new player shows up and immediately starts putting him down in a playful but definite way. This attractive young woman keeps him at arms' length throughout most of the movie, but we can tell... (wink, wink...)

Of course, in the inevitable flip flop, Grandpa is soon urging our lovelorn young man to "Get back in the game!" while our scandalized hero is begging Grandpa to "Act your age!"

This is NOT "artistic" but it is certainly a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. And the surprise ending is fun, too!