Playing For Keeps

Gabrielle Muccino's Playing For Keeps (US, 2012) - A modestly affecting reconciliation drama wrapped in a so-so sports movie by way of a misogynistic romantic comedy, "Playing for Keeps" can't stop tripping all over itself. Returning to Hollywood filmmaking after his 2010 Italian laffer "Kiss Me Again," helmer Gabriele Muccino doesn't go as spectacularly astray as he did in 2008's "Seven Pounds," but this cluttered tale of a past-his-prime soccer player trying to win back his ex-wife and son still hits too many false notes to realize its core emotional potential. Toplined by Gerard Butler but distinguished by Jessica Biel, the FilmDistrict release should score middling returns. RATING: 4