Players

Mack, Ashley, Brannagan, Adam and Little are 'pick up artists'. They move and work in groups. In many ways, they follow the lead of the horribly ridiculous pick-up bible The Game, which is all about deception and embarrassment in order to attract the opposite sex like a fly on shit in some kind of twisted alternative reality. They often talk "off the cuff" about their expensive, upcoming trips or their imaginary high-profile job, thus securing the evening's one-night stand without much effort. But then main character Mack (played by Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez) meets new colleague Nick (Tom Ellis from Lucifer) and sparks fly between them.

Now Mack must try to get the rest of her fun-loving fuck gang to understand that she no longer intends to pick up meaningless hunks at the local neighbourhood bar anymore, but wants to go for a relationship. And for that to happen, she needs everyone's help, oddly enough. Everyone has to rig, organise, lie, cajole, prepare, prepare and pave the way for her love to work. "Love is a Team Sport", according to Mack and that's how this film about love is set up. Of course, Mack finds love elsewhere along the way, and the same old moral portrayed in 120,000 other romantic comedies applies here. True, lasting love was waiting for you right in front of your face while you were desperately searching for it elsewhere. It becomes sugary sweet, typical and horribly predictable.

Players is a film that in every conceivable way follows a horribly tired template for how an American romcom should be made. Director Trish Sie (Pitch Perfect 3) tries to spice up the tired old recipe with a half hour of wild nibbling where our "Players" wallow in their own easily digestible looseness and while that part works in films like Trainwreck or Archie, this is mostly just embarrassing and charmless. Gina Rodriguez struggles mightily to elevate a downright dreadfully dull script while Damon Wayans Jr. does everything in his power to add charm and serenity, but they all fail in a film that feels like one big, porky, red-lacquered failure. Avoid Players and check out Trainwreck instead. More fun, more charming, with much better acting and an absolutely brilliant script.