Is it me, or do the writers of some comedic shows and movies, try too hard to get a laugh? I found a lot of fault with this movie. Early in the movie, Shante says that if men acted right, women would give them all the love and respect they deserved. Please! Now we all know that this is not always true, on either side. A person could be as compassionate, considerate, loving, loyal, faithful and respectful as ever, and in return they get nothing but hate, disrespect, and a barrage of blows, physical, verbal and psychological.There is more stupidity throughout the film. There is the scene where her friend has a man who is cheating. This is where Shante advises women to plant an underwear somewhere and confront the man with this "evidence". Now, don't you think I ought to remember who I slept with last night, and what color underwear she was wearing? If she wore any at all? The fool in this movie falls for this "trick" and makes up a lie about the underwear being his sister's. That part was ridiculous.Now, are most men still this stupid? Are they still stupid enough to bring other women into their homes, which they may share with their wives or girlfriends? Have they not seen "How to be a player"? Did they not all learn that you do NOT bring the sidepiece to the home? Did they not learn that you have to be discreet? The fool apparently didn't.The other thing is, why confront me about something I didn't do? That whole part was pretty absurd, just like some women's habit of destroying property when a man does wrong.The only parts I enjoyed are when Keith starts playing some games of his own. Oh, and this disgusted me. Shante slept with Keith on the first night. Very slutty and tacky indeed.The movie makes Shante seem too full of herself. Does she really believe that her man would call her that many times after she breaks up with him? Does she really think that he would that depressed? Like Keith was in this movie?

"Independence Day" actress Vivica A. Fox stars in the breezy, lightweight comedy "Two Can Play That Game" as a sexy but savvy senior advertising executive with a surefire ten-day strategy for manipulating errant boyfriends who step out on their women.This predictable but hilarious Anne Landers-like war-of-the-sexes situation comedy combines elements of Spike Lee's "She's Gotta Have It" (1986) and Forrest Whitaker's "Waiting to Exhale" (1995). As Shante Smith, Fox often turns to speak directly to the audience, breaking the fourth wall as it is called, to amuse us with insights in much the same way that Matthew Broderick did in John Hughes 1986 teen comedy "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Shante addresses the camera while her companions appear blithely oblivious to these artificial asides. Although the humor occasionally qualifies as raunchy, first-time director Mark Brown has penned a harmlessly entertaining emotional epic that should keep both sexes laughing out loud at the antics of an exceptional ensemble cast featuring debonair Morris Chestnut and comic genius Anthony Anderson. Incidentally, Brown knows the romantic ropes rather well because he co-scripted director Lionel C. Martin's "How to Be a Player" (1997) about a playboy who gets his comeuppance from all the women who he cheated on at a party."The first time your man messes up," Shante advises, "no matter how minor the infraction, punish him. Punish him hard." Our heroine coaches a trio of soul sisters, Diedre (Mo'nique of "3 Strikes"), Karen (Wendy Raquel Robinson of "Miss Congeniality"), and Tracye (Tamala Jones of "Blue Streak") all of whom find themselves at the mercy of their errant men. Meanwhile, Shante endures none of their woes as she woos her boyfriend, Keith Fenton (Morris Chestnut of "The Brothers"), a successful, upscale, white-collar attorney. Moreover, Keith has never cheated on her. Shante's world shatters when Keith breaks a dinner date to work late at the office. Earlier, Shante had warned her friends that a man's most popular excuse for philandering is working late at the office.Nevertheless, Shante confides to the camera/audience that you never let your friends know if you are having trouble. Instead, Shante and her posse head off to their favorite restaurant nightspot where she catches Keith red-handed in the arms of another woman from his office. Predictably, Keith and his date scram, while an outraged Shante declares war on him with a foolproof ten-day plan to win him back. One of the best jokes here is the lingerie test. Shante tells her gal pals to buy lingerie a couple of sizes larger than their own and wedge it into the cushions of the couch at their boyfriend's apartment then extract the imitate item his presence and see what lies he conjures up on the spot to get himself out a jam.Shante isn't prepared for Keith's nimble-minded sidekick Tony (Anthony Anderson of "Me, Myself, and Irene") who furnishes shrewd guidance from a player's perspective. Sometimes, Tony manages to outsmart Shante, but he warns Keith that even the Central Intelligence Agency has nothing on a woman with a plan. Keith struggles desperately to maintain his composure, ringing up Shante who refuses to answer his phone calls. When she plays hard to get, rival businesswoman Conny Spalding (foxy Gabrielle Union of "Bring It On"), moves in on Keith, and an exasperated Shante pursues another guy. The irony of "Two Can Play That Game" is that Shante has a solid game plan, but she lacks the control over Keith that her girlfriends exert over their men. Furthermore, by the end of this nonsense, Shante learns a valuable lesson that she cannot control men with her rules.Nothing about "Two Can Play That Game" is, of course, remotely believable, but the jokes are fast and furious, and the cast looks like they enjoyed themselves to the utmost. Comedian Anthony Anderson steals every scene he has, while Whitney Houston's former husband Bobby Brown appears in a cameo as Karen's buck-toothed boyfriend. Black and white alike can enjoy this pre "Hitch" love comedy.

I enjoyed this movie because it describes our female need to be in control of a relationship that as taken a really bad turn.I'm really fond of this movie simply because I can relate to it.I found myself watching this movie when my boyfriend step out of line.But not to get relationship advise but to remind myself that yes two can play the game,but when a relationship as gone bad games are not always the "Grown up" way to deal with the situation.I guess the only true way to describe this movie is "Simply Irresistible"

There are just wayyy too many cliches to take this movie seriously, but if you're up for a few laughs, you could do worse than to watch this romp.This film may perhaps be Anthony Anderson's coming-out movie, because he not just steals the show, he dominates! After playing the bumbling type in both Kingdom Come and Romeo Must Die, here in TCPTG he is the driving force. (Granted, I haven't seen every film he's done, so he might have had other parts that demonstrated his talent; but note that after this movie he did Barbershop and appears lined up to appear in no less than 4 movies in 2003).And, a tip of the hat to Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson, she's a riot too. I must admit, I think the significance of The Cosby Show, depicting upwardly-mobile urban black professionals, has played itself out so that we don't need to forcefeed images of rich black people (in this vein, the homey feel of Eddie Murphy's The Klumps as well as his unfortunately discontinued The PJs was ironically refreshing - I wish I could digress fully and explore this thought; if you want to follow up, email me).Anyway, there are some golden moments in this movie. The first-person narrative was almost irritating at the beginning, but if you can endure the first 10 minutes of it, it is developed nicely into a decent tool to set up some of the coming laughs.As a romantic comedy, I remember how much I enjoyed The Money Pit; my wife can't see what I see in that film. But, as an 80s comedy, it was both silly yet touching. And then there was the more mature Other People's Money, which had enough business tension that it was almost not a comedy, except for Danny DeVito. In other words, there are many ways in which to approach "the romantic comedy," and as such, there's plenty of room for TCPTG, if you are willing to give it the same slack you might give any other romantic comedy (Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, etc., etc.,).You know, it sorta sounds like I'm apologizing for this film. In a way, I am, because the elements of it that the average person will notice and have difficult with are the same elements the average person is blind towards in other movies.Bottom line, for light-hearted fun, you won't be wasting your money to rent it.