As an assassin for hire, Emma (Kaley Cuoco) is often away from home and fighting to reconnect with her family. This strain puts a lot of stress on her marriage to Dave (David Oyelowo), whom she tries to meet for romantic escapades, pretending they are strangers. Things go awry during one such meeting as Emma’s secret life clashes with her home life an accident that leads to the couple’s swift downward spiral. When Dave is at home, wondering how things have gone so wrong, Emma runs off to Europe, where she is determined to protect her family and the normal life she has worked to carve out for herself.
“Role Play” is charged with family and domestic quarrels that develop into action-comedy sequences, but the film is unable to capitalize on any of its concepts. Right away in the movie by Seth W. Owens, a level of domestic discord is evident from both sides, but later on, the film plays with a time jump that practically forces the story to move forward.
The film only lingers on its collection of set pieces, just long enough to enable the viewer to be “spoon-fed” in narration as they wait to be blown away by the next sequence. By the time we put our brains in the intelligent settings of the plot, we have to face the next set of bullets. Because of the confused, jittery writing that mixes plot and action, it becomes a sprint to the plot and misses out on any of its content whether action, comedy, or heart.
Role Play is meant to be an enjoyable film but does not bother to bask in such characteristics that make it an enjoyable film. There are a few guffaws in the course of the film, Oyelowo’s Dave is the main source of those, his disbelief and frustration in his conditions gives him a chance to utter more than one witty line (like he told Emma to take a class when she yelled that all she does is kill). However, Cuoco, who was previously asserting her funny side in “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Flight Attendant”, feels empty. Even where she is required to act as a badass (which the script suggests a lot), she still underperforms. It is not because she does not have the ability which leak in some of her emotional scenes, but rather it seems like her performance is simply not in sync with the film she is in quite often.
Except for one interesting and fun club fight, which is well shot and choreographed, the remaining parts of the film have poor editing with static frames so that she and her opponent’s moves like somersaults, punches, etc. seem to be moved from tai chi forms. The same goes for the two leads: the chemistry that is needed is just not there. Consequently, the stakes appear low, and so does the purpose of the movie.
The relationships are poorly made, just like the world-building. In the opening, it seems like Emma’s criminal underground has a network so wide that she could be assassinated by someone she calls a ‘colleague’ at a moment’s notice. But there is also a long drawn-out exposition later on which would suggest a much closer source. This sequence is definitely not specific, providing one real basic detail, and gesturing as if the audience is supposed to figure things out. Emma is supposed to be on the run from the syndicate and its goons, but the film doesn’t exploit this paranoia or build up any intensity to provide flesh to these confrontational moments.
A fight without punches and a comedy with little this is how one views the film. No final product, but rather a screen test. While a woman willing to kill over her family is a terrific plot device for emotional and kinetic action, this one’s engine stalls repeatedly. It never reaches its destination.
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