Review: Players is comfortable with just existing rather than flourishing and finding new territory to cover in this expansive romantic comedy genre of movies. Netflix’s latest film is just as light and unremarkable as nearly every other one that they’ve produced. Gina Rodriguez and Damon Wayans Jr. co-star in lackluster, windless entry.
This is going to be a rather short review. I’ll just tell you that now. Netflix’s latest romantic comedy Players is just as light and unremarkable as nearly every other one that they’ve produced. Despite a cast of interesting midlevel stars with occasionally fun comedic chops, the film doesn’t feel sticky enough to elevate above the usual quality level of Netflix originals dumped on their streaming service week after week.
Mack, a sportswriter from New York City, spends her time manufacturing hook up schemes alongside Adam (Damon Wayans Jr.), her best friend. When Mack meets Nick (Tom Ellis), a war correspondent, Mack must decide whether to keep hooking up or to maintain a long-term relationship.
Mack is played by the usually quirky and relatable Gina Rodriguez, who brings a soft performance here, trying to fulfill both a personal and professional emptiness she feels in her life. The movie is as much of a coming-of-age (or coming-to-terms) film for Mack as it is a romantic one – balancing the potential for a higher role in her branch of a news publication with her burgeoning romance with one of her coworkers.
The dramatic tones here are often felt more powerfully than the comedic ones. Players doesn’t come off as all that funny, rather an odd premise plainly executed under the usual minuscule approach to comedies from Netflix. It holds you over, but never overtakes you. There’s screen presence from Rodriguez and Damon Wayans Jr. that is enough to keep you satisfied, but repeating the plot of the film after the credits is about as tough as recalling the supporting characters by name (I would struggle to do either, Google was my friend when laying out the synopsis for Players above).
There’s little slow burn or yearning or intensity or angst to speak of, and the emotionality in a movie like this has been completely soaked out. Players is comfortable with just existing rather than flourishing and finding new territory to cover in this expansive genre of movies.
Which is probably more of an indictment on the Netflix system more than it is on Players. Director Trish Sie (Pitch Perfect 3) shouldn’t be at fault for this. A romantic comedy set in the sports journalism world sounds fun and seems like it would be right up my alley, and I usually enjoy character performances from Gina Rodriguez and Damon Wayans Jr., but there doesn’t seem to be much interest to make this thing stand out above the endless pit of movies exactly like this. Sie seems like a director-for-hire the way many directors are for the streamer.
Players won’t stick with you in the slightest. My favorite version of this “type” of movie is Meet Cute from a few years ago – a film that is ridiculous as hell and has a bit of that “so bad that its good” quality that I find endearing and fun. Players isn’t that and doesn’t aspire to be nearly as audacious and borderline incoherent. It instead feels comfortable just existing rather than living as its own unique movie.
Score: 4/10
Watch Players (2024) on Netflix
Players Movie Cast and Credits
Cast
Gina Rodriguez as Mack
Damon Wayans Jr. as Adam
Tom Ellis as Nick Russell
Augustus Prew as Brannagan
Joel Courtney as Ryan ‘Little’
Liza Koshy as Ashley
Crew
Director: Trish Sie
Writer: Whit Anderson
Cinematography: Matthew Clark
Editor: Kathryn Himoff
Composer: Jeff Cardoni
Reviews for Movies like Players (2024)
