My So-Called Homeschool

My kids are Disney Channel fanatics — you could stop by any time of day and you would most likely find the cable tuned to channel 67. So Madison Pettis is a familiar face around here. She is adorably precocious as America’s Angel on Corey in the House, a spinoff of Raven Simone’s That’s So Raven. In fact, she reminds me a bit of Raven on The Cosby Show — a typecasting that Raven got stuck in for quite a while. In The Game Plan, Madison is pretty much the same character — the precocious, adorable little girl, all sweet smiles and clever comebacks. I hope that Madison doesn’t get stuck in that role, as there were a couple of moments in the movie that showed she has a little more depth to her acting ability if someone gives her the chance.

The movie itself is cute — Dwane Johnson (The Rock) does the comic turn quite well as a self-absorbed football star at the peak of his career. The chemistry between him and dance teacher Roslyn Sanchez (of Without a Trace) is believable without being too much for a G movie. Kyra Sedgwick is funny as the money-grubbing agent, and the cast of football players all get to show an alternate side to their stereotypical characters. There is a nice twist at the end that keeps the plot from being completely predictable.

All in all, it got a thumbs up from all 5 of us here, from 4yo to Mom and Dad.

Arrgh!  I have graphics, they won’t upload!