{"id":239,"date":"2018-11-20T17:38:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T22:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jru.twr.mybluehost.me\/playing-it-cool-2014-review\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T11:24:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:24:51","slug":"playing-it-cool-2014-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/playing-it-cool-2014-review\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Playing It Cool&#8217; (2014) Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Playing it Cool<\/em> is a rom-com designed to subvert the rom-com genre, but ultimately comes across as gimmicky and a bit blah. The cast is pretty great, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0333410\/\">Topher Grace<\/a> a bright spot and <strong>Aubrey Plaza<\/strong> playing Aubrey Plaza, aka April Ludgate. Her character throwing bowling balls at <a href=\"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/tag\/chris-evans\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"833\">Chris Evans<\/a> is a highlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chris Evans&#8217;s character, who we only know as &#8220;me,&#8221; is likable, if a bit self-absorbed. He projects himself in every romantic story his grandpa and circle of friends tell him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michelle Monaghan is a witty &#8216;cool&#8217; girl who doesn&#8217;t seem to have much of an issue cheating on her bland boyfriend while sticking with him because he&#8217;s &#8216;comfortable.&#8217; They&#8217;re not super great people, but they at least seem to be aware of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>&#8220;I&#8217;m willing to regret you for the rest of my life.&#8221;<\/i> Aw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the characters were severely underwritten, and you wonder why they were in the movie, flitting in and out of scenes with no real purpose, then disappearing altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concept was interesting, but the laughs were lacking. Playing It Cool grabs almost every rom-com trope by the balls. It runs with them (the group of friends discussing men vs. women, the awkward high-five meant to be a wave, the typical meet-cute, the breaking up of a wedding, etc.), but unfortunately, it lacks the charm that makes good rom-coms so enjoyable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Watched:<\/strong> 11\/20\/2018<br><strong>Notable Song:<\/strong> A Night Like This by Caro Emerald<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><div id=\"pb-star-rating-ed17fa4e528e47a183f7a0eb88be6ef4\" class=\"wp-block-ud-blocks-star-rating\" style=\"--udpb-sr-align:center;--udpb-sr-icon-color:#ffb900;--udpb-sr-icon-size:18px;--udpb-sr-icon-sizeTablet:17px;--udpb-sr-icon-sizeMobile:16px;--udpb-sr-title-color:#000;--udpb-sr-title-size:18px;--udpb-sr-title-size-tablet:17px;--udpb-sr-title-size-mobile:16px\"><div class=\"pb-star-rating-wrapper\"><div class=\"pb-star-rating--title\"><strong>Rating:<\/strong><\/div><div class=\"pb-star-rating--icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"fas\" data-icon=\"star\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-star fa-w-18 \" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 576 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M259.3 17.8L194 150.2 47.9 171.5c-26.2 3.8-36.7 36.1-17.7 54.6l105.7 103-25 145.5c-4.5 26.3 23.2 46 46.4 33.7L288 439.6l130.7 68.7c23.2 12.2 50.9-7.4 46.4-33.7l-25-145.5 105.7-103c19-18.5 8.5-50.8-17.7-54.6L382 150.2 316.7 17.8c-11.7-23.6-45.6-23.9-57.4 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"fas\" data-icon=\"star\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-star fa-w-18 \" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 576 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M259.3 17.8L194 150.2 47.9 171.5c-26.2 3.8-36.7 36.1-17.7 54.6l105.7 103-25 145.5c-4.5 26.3 23.2 46 46.4 33.7L288 439.6l130.7 68.7c23.2 12.2 50.9-7.4 46.4-33.7l-25-145.5 105.7-103c19-18.5 8.5-50.8-17.7-54.6L382 150.2 316.7 17.8c-11.7-23.6-45.6-23.9-57.4 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"fas\" data-icon=\"star-half-alt\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-star-half-alt fa-w-17 \" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 536 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M508.55 171.51L362.18 150.2 296.77 17.81C290.89 5.98 279.42 0 267.95 0c-11.4 0-22.79 5.9-28.69 17.81l-65.43 132.38-146.38 21.29c-26.25 3.8-36.77 36.09-17.74 54.59l105.89 103-25.06 145.48C86.98 495.33 103.57 512 122.15 512c4.93 0 10-1.17 14.87-3.75l130.95-68.68 130.94 68.7c4.86 2.55 9.92 3.71 14.83 3.71 18.6 0 35.22-16.61 31.66-37.4l-25.03-145.49 105.91-102.98c19.04-18.5 8.52-50.8-17.73-54.6zm-121.74 123.2l-18.12 17.62 4.28 24.88 19.52 113.45-102.13-53.59-22.38-11.74.03-317.19 51.03 103.29 11.18 22.63 25.01 3.64 114.23 16.63-82.65 80.38z\"><\/path><\/svg><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"star\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-star fa-w-18 \" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 576 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M528.1 171.5L382 150.2 316.7 17.8c-11.7-23.6-45.6-23.9-57.4 0L194 150.2 47.9 171.5c-26.2 3.8-36.7 36.1-17.7 54.6l105.7 103-25 145.5c-4.5 26.3 23.2 46 46.4 33.7L288 439.6l130.7 68.7c23.2 12.2 50.9-7.4 46.4-33.7l-25-145.5 105.7-103c19-18.5 8.5-50.8-17.7-54.6zM388.6 312.3l23.7 138.4L288 385.4l-124.3 65.3 23.7-138.4-100.6-98 139-20.2 62.2-126 62.2 126 139 20.2-100.6 98z\"><\/path><\/svg><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"star\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-star fa-w-18 \" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 576 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M528.1 171.5L382 150.2 316.7 17.8c-11.7-23.6-45.6-23.9-57.4 0L194 150.2 47.9 171.5c-26.2 3.8-36.7 36.1-17.7 54.6l105.7 103-25 145.5c-4.5 26.3 23.2 46 46.4 33.7L288 439.6l130.7 68.7c23.2 12.2 50.9-7.4 46.4-33.7l-25-145.5 105.7-103c19-18.5 8.5-50.8-17.7-54.6zM388.6 312.3l23.7 138.4L288 385.4l-124.3 65.3 23.7-138.4-100.6-98 139-20.2 62.2-126 62.2 126 139 20.2-100.6 98z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Playing it Cool is a rom-com designed to subvert the rom-com genre, but ultimately comes across as gimmicky and a bit blah. The cast is pretty great, with Topher Grace a bright spot and Aubrey Plaza playing Aubrey Plaza, aka April Ludgate. Her character throwing bowling balls at Chris Evans is a highlight. Chris Evans&#8217;s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[718,1],"tags":[749,831,832,833,834,835,836,541,837,838,3650,509],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews-p","category-reviews","tag-749","tag-anthony-mackie","tag-aubrey-plaza","tag-chris-evans","tag-ioan-gruffudd","tag-justin-reardon","tag-luke-wilson","tag-martin-starr","tag-michelle-monaghan","tag-playing-it-cool","tag-2-5-stars","tag-topher-grace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84036,"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions\/84036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theromcomcatalog.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}