Successful and talented star Boston quarterback Joe Kingman (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) learns he has a young 8-year-old daughter named Peyton (newcomer Madison Pettis) on the eve of his team entering the playoffs. Suddenly the formerly unattached egotistical bachelor must juggle his commitment to his teammates and his duty as a father, learning along the way that trust is a two-way street and there are more important things in the world than his own selfish best interests.

CRITIQUE

I’ll be honest with all you readers out there – I’ve been avoiding Disney’s The Game Plan big-time. I declined going to a screening when it was released to theaters last Fall (I had concert tickets, a girl has to have priorities don’t you know) and I’ve been sitting in my apartment staring at the Blu-ray DVD for weeks now after my editor inexplicably sent it to me. No two ways about it, thanks to the horrific trailers and to the even worse sounding storyline I had no wish to see this film, and if my NCAA basketball bracket wouldn’t have imploded so magnificently (I have one team left – one!) this afternoon I still probably still wouldn’t have watched the darn thing.

So, color my foolish and surprised but this darn PG-rated family comedy isn’t actually half bad. For a mid-afternoon watch on the television where there isn’t any other thing on a person could do a heck of a lot worse, and if they happen to be running back and forth to the laundry room while it’s playing the stupid thing is maybe even borderline perfect.

Not to say I would tell anyone in their right mind to buy the darn thing. There is something slightly creepy about a Disney film revolving around the concept of a man illegitimately fathering a child and not having the first clue about it. The fact that such a heady subject matter is treated in such obviously saccharine “That’s So Raven” or “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” fashion is even that much more despicable, nothing inside the script even making the smallest effort to deal with any of the issues inherent in this type of tale. (As a side note, any film that completely wastes the talents of Kyra Sedgwick as much as this one does deserves one or two extra demerits just on principal.)

Which is too bad, because I actually think Disney could say something here, could actually make a family film that deals with this issue and do it in a way that’s both still kid-friendly and doesn’t rely upon cliché or rainbow-fueled platitudes to get its point across. The Rock is admittedly perfect to play such a cartoon version of a professional athlete, his comedic timing far better then you would expect and his by-play with his adorable costar absolutely charming. More, there are hints here and there in the film of something more just aching to come out, an early third act moment in a hospital room speaking to universal truths resonating touchingly whether the viewer is 8 or eighty years of age.

None of which actually really matters. The only thing that really means something here is that the little girl is cute (and a pretty decent little actress), The Rock grimaces mightily and takes part in a full-on ballet, Roselyn Sanchez makes for a sexily seductive (very G-rated) love interest and there’s just enough good vibes the overall syrupy cutesiness of it all never becomes overwhelmingly annoying.

However, this doesn't mean I’d tell anyone to buy The Game Plan, but a rental might not be out of the question, especially if you’ve got a little girl at home and sink full of dishes needing to be done. That way, she’s got something to keep her interested and you’ve got noise while you’re scrubbing away that nasty caked-on turkey grease. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

THE VIDEO

The Game Plan is presented in 1080p 2.40:1 Widescreen and it looks incredible. I’m still hating the premature demise of HD DVD, yes, but the more Blu-ray’s I watch the more I keep being impressed, this disc being no exception.

THE AUDIO

Available audio tracks include both English 5.1 Uncompressed (48 kHz/24 bit), English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1 with optional English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

It’s a Disney film, so the extras are quite unsurprisingly kid-centric. There are two Blu-ray exclusives, however, the first being an amusing audio commentary between The Rock and director Andy Fickman complete John Madden style on-screen play-by-play chalk markups. The second is the full faux ESPN interview of Joe Kingman by Stuart Scott (cute, but not exactly a must-see).

The other extras, no matter how amusingly presented, aren’t going to knock anyone’s socks off. The Marv Albert presented Blooper Real is surprisingly not very funny, the deleted scenes (other than the marvelous full version of the mid-movie ballet) are a waste of time, the behind-the-scenes featurette is typically mind numbing and the ESPN interview between Sean Salisbury and The Rock on how the actor (and one-time college football player) learned to play quarterback is as cheesy as you’d expect it to be.

On the plus side, there is a nifty little Easter Egg which allows you to change the menu screen from a gridiron backdrop to a bedazzled one. Speaking of bedazzling, the last extra, “Peyton’s Makeover Madness Set-Top Activity,” is actually pretty darn cute. It was reported to me that my neighbor’s daughter played with this bit for over an hour which I’m positive is exactly the response the folks who put this DVD together were hoping for.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Not a great movie, but not so horrible I should have avoided the darn thing like the plague. The Game Plan isn’t going to win any awards and it sure as heck isn’t going to change any lives, but kids (especially little girls) are going to love it and parents aren’t going to hate themselves for having to sit through the darn thing. Definitely not a touchdown, but a person could get a few yards out of the thing which I guess is better than nothing.