Role Play Synopsis: Emma has a wonderful husband and two kids in the suburbs of New Jersey â she also has a secret life as an assassin for hire â a secret that her husband David discovers when the couple decide to spice up their marriage with a little role play.
Emma (Kaley Cuoco) is leading a double life. She’s a loving wife and mother… and an assassin. Her constant “work trips” are starting to strain her marriage to David (David Oyelowo), and she decides she’s done with the secret assassin life for good. Emma and David agree to some role play to spice up their marriage – they’ll meet up at a hotel as two completely different people. Unfortunately, at the bar, another assassin named Bob recognizes Emma, who has a bounty on her head. The consequences turn deadly when Emma has to silence him to protect her secret.
Role Play is a movie we’ve all seen before. A spouse or significant other lives a double life as a spy or assassin, and what happens when both lives unexpectedly merge. I’ve definitely seen this movie before in Killers, or even Mr. and Mrs. Smith (where both spouses are out killing people). Not much distinguishes Role Play from the plethora of like-minded movies that have come before it.
Cuoco is a likable actress who I have enjoyed in other projects (Meet Cute), but she is not terribly believable as an assassin. However, she gels nicely with Oyelowo for the more emotional scenes. And it’s Oyelowo who is the bright spot in Role Play. He’s a charismatic actor who gives a nuanced performance as the “in the dark” spouse suddenly thrust into a life-or-death situation. I paid a lot more attention whenever he was on the screen.
The supporting cast is a talented bunch – Bill Nighy and Connie Nielson – but Nighy was not on screen as much as I would have liked, and Nielson, while a fantastic actress, felt like a stock character taken out of Villain 101.
I guess my real issue with Role-Play is Emma herself. Little complexity is given to her character. She comes across as cold and unremorseful for what she’s done. She’s a killer who gives us little to no reason to root for her. We want to see David survive, of course, but I was really hoping he’d boot her to the curb when all was said and done.
Role Play has its moments, namely a bar scene where Bill Nighy’s Bob shows up to throw a wrench into Emma’s life, and as I mentioned above, David Oyelowo is compelling when he’s onscreen. But ultimately, Role Play is lacking in laughs and dynamic action sequences that make these kinds of movies so much fun. Not to mention Emma is not really a heroine we can get behind. I’m glad I finally got around to watching it, but it’s not likely to be one I’ll revisit.
Watched: 11/01/2024
Notable Song: Nothing Burns Like The Cold by Snoh Aalegra
