Joe 'The King' Kingman (Dwayne Johnson) is a star NFL Quarterback whom is also their most valuable player. He lives his life as a bachelor and only cares about three things in life; American Football, Elvis, and himself. However, his very bachelor existence is turned on its head when 8 year old Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis) arrives at his bachelor pad claiming to be his daughter.When watching The Game Plan it reminded me a lot of Big Daddy; a selfish immature adult finds themselves having to look after a child and for the most part the adult does a pretty bad job at being a parent. Whilst I quite enjoyed Big Daddy, I have to admit that pound for pound this film was funnier than Big Daddy purely because the laughter and emotions felt earned and more honest and once again I liked the way that some filmmakers can make films funny without having to resort to crassness or vulgarity.Of course, the biggest selling point with this film is the wonderful chemistry between Dwayne Johnson and his young co-star. The former is good here and is very convincing in the early stages as a selfish bachelor and is also good throughout the narrative as he slowly begins to learn that there are more important things in the world than merely himself and American Football. Johnson is good value in his usual tough-talking persona but as with the likes of Vin Diesel in The Pacifier and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop he's also a man that isn't afraid to make a bit of a fool of himself (in a good way) and I really liked that about an actor. A good example of this is in the scene where he dismisses ballet as being easy and not being a sport and then in the next scene he's pouring with sweat and ends up in a lot of pain (which results in him struggling to do his warm up training for football). Likewise, Madison Pettis is more than just a cute kid here and actually puts in a very strong performance - she doesn't rely on cuteness to get by and is never annoying. She's a sassy, smart and thoughtful girl who likes ballet and listen to Tchiakowsky and therefore is everything that her father isn't - their chalk and cheese nature is worked to good effect here and there is never a dull moment when Pettis and Johnson are sharing screen time. The supporting cast were all good and it did help that this film had the delectable Rosalyn Sanchez whom I was quite happy just to stare at during the film's running time.One thing that could have sunk this film was Johnson's character; selfish and uncaring individuals will usually ruin films for me, but with Johnson's character I kind of felt that he had been groomed that way and found it hard to switch off - you could see he wasn't a total monster even in the early stages so I still found him to be fairly likable.There is a twist to the story thrown in later in the film (presumably in order to not make the film entirely predictable), but it's a twist that some may see coming. The Game Plan is a very funny and enjoyable film made better by two very strong performances by Dwayne Johnson and Madison Pettis. As already mentioned, Johnson makes the film funnier by acting the fool and not taking himself seriously and Pettis is more than just a cute kid and does give an actual 'performance' and bounces well off Johnson. A solid film that in my opinion is slightly better than its rating suggests.

I love stories of brutes guys with cute little girls. This movie is this and more. Although it has all the clichés of the genre, the story is performed competently and you create empathy with the characters.The premise is fun. Imagine a womanizer and egocentric guy discover from night to day what he is the father of a child he even know the existence? Only this situation is hilarious enough.Dwayne Johnson and Madison Pettis make a good double and convince in the father-daughter relationship."The Game Plan" is certainly not a film that invents the wheel. But perform competently what it promises: to be a great fun for the whole family.This is no doubt my favorite "Family Movie" ever. I can see it thirty times and never get tired .

Joe Kingman (Dwayne Johnson) is big star quarterback, and unabashed bachelor. One day, little girl Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis) comes and tells him that she's his daughter. His world is immediately turned upside down.It's a sit-com with sit-com level acting. It's desperate to get the sit-com laughs. All that's missing is the sit-com laugh track. The little girl has the charisma and the big personality. And it helps that she has a passing resemblance to The Rock. But neither she nor The Rock is terribly lovable in this movie.The idea that the little girl is so casually left to her own devices is very far fetched. It seems that all the adults are relatively nonchalant with checking the girl's story. Joe should be moving heaven and earth to track down the mother. And Paige Turco's character must have some adult supervision when the little girl gets to her destination. The whole thing is too flimsy.The final drive in the football game is wrong. It makes no sense. It's just a quick and dirty way to finish the movie. Sense has long gone from the movie. It's a weak sit-com premise. The leads are charming by themselves but none of the jokes work. It's a harmless family movie that'll be quickly forgotten.

Dwayne Johnson plays Joe Kingman, an unbelievably rich football player who has everything a rich football player could want: Money, expensive furniture, and even a bulldog named Spike.If you were him, you would be living in heaven.But then you would be living in Hell if you found out that you had a daughter who just happened to show up on your doorstep.Talk about scary.Just like any other movie about a man who finds out that he has a daughter, their relationship doesn't always go according to plan.But as the movie continues, the relationship spreads and soon they all live happily ever after. 'The Game Plan' is a funny and touching movie with a great performance by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.he really should consider doing more family movies.He's a natural.