The Players (2014)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Pretty Good

Lack of good storyline.

Blistering performances.

This was a fun movie... This is the 3rd of Lartigau's (director) works I have enjoyed. (others I Do and The Big Picture--) If I like a movie will typically look for other films by the same director...this is usually the most rewarding way to find new things I like. The movie cost $29 million--in the 60s "million dollar movies" were supposed to inspire awe. Typical Bond movies today are half a billion.This is a situational comedy with lots of uninhibited moderated tasteful sexual visuals if the last word is possible? shock value for American audiences... Woody Allen did a movie Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex...it was very funny for the time very "velveeta cheese" (bland and mainline) compared to this film. Lartigau does something similar with Infidelity.The movie is a collection of vignettes involving some aspect of Infidelity...most feature DuJardin and Lellouche (both actors are 40). There are related skits with other actors...and also a funny one with a therapist session for cheating husbands. I enjoyed them all especially DuJardins company trip. The flaw with the movie is the vignettes seem to be one continuous story...and your brain churns about trying to piece things together. Either separate them better (if they were not meant to be related vignettes) or unify them better is my criticism. I am sure it was one continuous story (the ones with DuJardin and Lellouche) however a comment by another reviewer made me wonder if they were not. Again you experience some cognitive dissonance trying to tie them together neatly. Well I did.The ending did not surprise me....hints were given...it was wacky.So that said...the filming is talented the acting great. Afore mentioned problem is tie the vignettes together better-- The uninhibited sexual (tasteful for this type thing?) aspects are good for uptight audiences... although it is not one I would want to watch with my Mother.RECOMMEND

Sex, French-style. Several vignettes, some long, some short, some no more than sketches, some better than others, some serious, most not so serious, "The Players" is about infidelity and stars the always reliable, indeed reliably marvelous Jean Dujardin and Gallic Liam Neeson lookalike Gilles Lellouche, each playing several roles, mostly as boorish, over-sexed males getting their rocks off with any female in sight and ultimately with each other. For the most part this is a fun film and, despite having several different directors, is much better than it has any right to be. It certainly shows Dujardin off to good effect and proves, once and for all, that his Oscar wasn't a one-hit-wonder.

I think the only way you wouldn't be able to enjoy this movie is if you have been loyal to your partner for a long time and feel envious of the characters. This movie takes us to some brilliant scenes with fantastic one liners through out. The movie flows between comedy and drama, and balances the two perfectly. Just when things start to get serious the movie throws you a fantastic joke, I can't remember laughing out loud so much at a movie. The comedy doesn't drown out the character development and I found myself attracted to the personalities. The are engaging and interesting and you want to know more about them. The psychology of the relationships between characters captures you in the movie. It is quite philosophical in a way but the comedy stops you over thinking. The body language in the movie is very good, there is one scene with a kid at the table with their kid doing homework. The two characters stare blankly at each other and you just know what they're both thinking, it's beautiful imagery and the cinematography is to a high level throughout.This film wasn't directed to casually which it could have quite easily been with the plot. There were some intense emotions but it remained extremely funny from start to finish. If you're 40+ and led a boring life this probably isn't for you but otherwise I honestly can't see how you couldn't enjoy this movie. It's easy to watch and the perfect movie if you're looking for a great laugh with friends. The ending is so funny too, the thriller photo made me laugh way past the credits. I really recommend this movie, don't let the reviews put you off!

This is not an exceptional movie. It is not thought provoking. It offers little social commentary. Its funniest bits are unfortunately its briefest. It doesn't even have a lot of gratuitous nudity, except for a few shots of male butt. So what does it have going for it? For one thing, it's fairly well written. No character comes across as stupid or even unsympathetic, which is already a plus, given the subject. The acting is great. The French really can churn these sexy comedies out and keep a high standard of acting. In part, this is because French films are in a bit of a doldrums, so I suppose good actors are working B films and glad to get the work. But there really is a European sensibility present that might not translate too well for American audiences. For example, the therapy group in which habitual cheaters own up to their sins is a scream. For one thing, everyone talks honestly and in a straightforward manner about their situation, which makes their lack of understanding that they have a "problem" even funnier. They just don't get it, and of course, being European, no question of a butch man-hating therapist, though she recites the usual litany on marriage and faithfulness. This may be the best longer sequence of the bunch, since their naïve inability to see their problem, much less admit it, tells volumes about European attitudes that, like I said, may not translate too well for Americans. Don't get me wrong: their blindness is exaggerated to the point of parody, but it is a possible blindness, something that allows the actors and director (in this segment, it is star Dujardin, who plays about 6 roles) to adopt a lighter tone. Imagine a Woody Allen treatment of infidelity about 20 years ago. Take away the narcissism, the self-indulgent and pseudo philosophical rhetoric, and you get an idea of the scene. Another minor plus: one segment has a 50 year old dentist carrying on with a 19 year student, an affair that we are told started when she was 15. Although Americans don't portray 15 year old sex, a self-indulgent age difference is normal. Here, the cheater gets his comeuppance not from a criticizing wife but from his paramour's teen age friends, who take advantage of his wallet and mock his willingness to play a young man's game. This is what I like about the movie: an economical and not so politicised treatment of faithfulness (or not), and especially a treatment that probably could not be made in America.