Playing God

source: Playing God

Trailer—Playing God

Playing God

With the mixed reviews this got I wasn't expecting too much, and was pleasantly surprised. It's a very entertaining small crime film with interesting characters, excellent portrayals, writing that's breezy without being glib, and a good pace. It looks good too, in a funky way. Apparently people either like this movie or just hate it, and I'm one who liked it.

Playing God's crime drama is a noir genre movie full of mystery and intrigue. The story follows Eugene Sands, a retired physician who is drawn into a crime doctor's life, but soon finds he's gone too far. David Duchovny, Timothy Hutton, Angelina Jolie, and Peter Stormare put together a solid cast and perform well. Hutton delivers the dark comedy particularly well and creates a charismatic and enjoyable villain. The instructions, however, are poor and damage the movie to some degree. Playing God is a flawed movie, but it still delivers a thriller that is convincing and entertaining.

I didn't expect much from this movie, as I must admit I only watched it to see David Duchovny. I was pleased to find that David was not the only member of the cast to turn in an interesting and entertaining performance. Timothy Hutton was very convincing as the "bad guy" with a real weakness for his beautiful girl friend, played by Angelina Jolie. Angelina is both a beautiful and talented actress. I have seen her in several movies since this one and enjoyed her in all of them. I thought she gave an especially moving performance in Gia. I enjoyed watching Playing God as the story moved along at a good pace, there was plenty of action and I especially enjoyed David's narrative which lent some humor at just the right times to what could have been just another bloody movie. I would recommend this film to any David Duchovny fans as he is at this best here, and also to any of you who enjoy Angelina Jolie. I give this movie 8 stars.

Don't analyse the plot if you can help it. Boring, it is not. It's unusual to find a movie that seeks to entertain within a self-imposed time constraint and this one has a few memorable one-liners to take away. That, alone, makes this worth seeing. In case you're wondering, I'm not a Duchovny 'fan'. A Timothy Hutton fan...? Well, it was a show-stealing performance...

Normally, I don't watch action movies because of the fact that they are usually all pretty similar. This movie did have many stereotypical action movie scenes, but the characters and the originality of the film's premise made it much easier to watch. David Duchovny bended his normal acting approach, which was great to see. Angelina Jolie, of course, was beautiful and did great acting. Great cast all together. A must see for people bored with the same old action movie.

David Duchovney creates a role that he was to replicate somewhat in Californication - the troubled talent. And it is a role he plays well. This thriller starts off at a good speed and carries you through to the end. Timothy Hutton plays a fine villain and Angelina Jolie pouts. The story of a disgraced doctor finding his way into a criminal world is well scripted. Drug addiction and a desire for the sultry Jolie mix a heady cocktail. Unfortunately towards the end the story gets a little weaker and the relationships between villains and the FBI is muddled and rushed as if it was created only to develop the final scene. But, that aside, a movie worth seeing.

I enjoyed this movie. Unlike like some of the pumped up, steroid trash that is passed off as action movies, Playing God is simple and realistic, with characters that are believable, action that is not over the top and enough twists and turns to keep you interested until the end. Well directed, well acted and a good story.