Role Play Review: Kaley Cuoco’s Assassin Act Lacks Lethal Edge
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Emma leads a double life as a secret assassin, and forgets her seventh wedding anniversary because she was busy killing someone in a different country. To make amends with her husband Dave, she suggests they role-play at a fancy hotel, but their night takes a twisted turn when her identity is exposed. Now, chased by bounty hunters, Emma’s secret puts both her life and her family at risk.
Directed by Thomas Vincent and written by Seth W. Owen, the 2024 movie “Role Play” bears resemblance to “The Family Plan,” portraying a former secret assassin feeling from home with his unsuspecting family, who believe they are setting out on a simple road trip, while in reality they are being chased by armed goons. Both movies are comedies, have their fun moments, what for an action-comedy, “Role Play” has a lot of less combat, shooting, or action scenes as one would hope for.
Kaley Cuoco portrays the protagonist, Emma, whose undercover hit job identities involve simple swaps like changing wigs and eye lenses. Given the exaggerated premise about a lone woman traveling around the world killing prominent personalities, one really wishes the creators would’ve embraced the farce and given Cuoco some mission-impossible like moves and transformations. The writing doesn’t go beyond the basics, and thus flits between boring stretches and some fun moments in between. Besides, Kaley Cuoco appeared to be more like she was role-playing an assassin than being the real deal. Now that I think about it, it brings to mind the brilliant portrayal of Jella Hasse as a lone killing machine in the Netflix series “Kleo.” In “Role Play,” there seemed to be a deliberate effort to give as few action scenes to Kaley Cuoco as possible; which is such a shame, given the primary plot.
David Oyelowo was pretty hilarious as Emma’s sweet husband Dave Brackett, who freaks out just over the fact that a man died in the same hotel they were having their role-play night. Imagine the shock he goes through when he learns the truth about his wife. The kids don’t have much of a role in the movie, but surprisingly, the principal antagonist doesn’t get much screen space too. Bill Nighy makes a strong impression in his cameo as Bob Kellerman, a chatty old man with ulterior motives who seeks out Emma on her date night with Dave. Things might have been far more entertaining if he had a larger role in the story.
I really don’t have much to say about the cinematography or the background music, nothing really stood out. Overall, “Role Play” is mildly entertaining and completely forgettable. Watch if you haven’t seen titles with similar plots and perhaps you might enjoy the film more than I did.
Rating: 5 on 10. “Role Play” is available on Prime Video.
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