Product: Two Can Play That Game (2001)
Rating: 2.0
This "Game" of love and war just isn't very fun.
"Two Can Play That Game" operates under the notion that relationships in distress call for a set of rules used to keep the opposite sex under control, only to relinquish this concept by concluding with a shot of our two main characters embracing after ninety minutes of cloyed storytelling and little to no comedic relief. But it's perfectly okay for the movie to end on a note of heavenly bliss; after all, when it comes to love, their are no rules. So why have a game? Better yet, why have this movie?The story is carried by a narration from its main character, Shante (Vivica A. Fox), an advertising executive who believes basically that all men are scum. It would appear that she has every right to hold such a belief: each of her three best friends have lousy men in their lives, while she thrives in a trusting, affectionate relationship with wealthy lawyer Keith Fenton (Morris Chestnut).Minutes after her lesson in excuses to cover up cheating ways, Shante notices her knight in shining armor out with another woman when he was supposedly "working late," and so she begins her so-called "10-Day Plan" of games and trickery to bring him to his knees, begging her to take him back. They await phone calls from one another, make unexpected visits to each other's dwellings, avoid appearing somber in front of friends, and resort to drastic measures such as flirting and dating other people in their desperate attempts to win the other back without being the loser of the game.The movie hits a speed bump from the start with its characters, who lack any sort of charm or sparkle to keep us interested in what they have to say. Fox does her best in trying to keep a smooth flow to the cumbersome and cloyed script, but her character's narration is bothersome and intrusive, providing for long periods of dialogue that is mean-spirited when it should be funny. The sole humorous moments of the film come from the four women, who, when in one another's company, generate the kind of laughs and smiles that the film is badly in need of.Another question comes to mind when looking back on the movie: why should we care about whether or not these two people will end up together when we have no reason to embrace them as individuals? As they spend most of their time driving around in expensive cars, with Shante incessantly sneering at the camera and Keith getting his groove on with various women in a pathetic attempt to get over his lost love, we have no reason to suspect that their emotion runs deeper than their vanity. They spend so much time keeping each other at bay with their tactics, that when it comes time for them to reconcile, it's not so much a happy ending as it is just an ending, period.There are small glimpses of a better movie in "Two Can Play That Game," such as the wit of the supporting female cast members and Anthony Anderson as Keith's friend and mentor, but they are buried under a massive heap of battle-of-the-sexes cliché, moronic plotting, misguided narration and unlikable characters. Sure, their lives are nice to look at on the outside, and the actors are easy on the eyes with their suave looks, but when you get right down to it, this game of love just isn't very fun, and lacks the sense of humor needed to justify the movie's near-pointless plot.