In recent years Kaley Cuoco has taken on some pretty complicated characters on series like The Flight Attendant and Harley Quinn, and even 2022’s Meet Cute took a deceptively dark turn. She’s continuing along those lines in Role Play on Amazon’s Prime Video, playing an assassin for hire opposite David Oyelowo. Critics were able to screen the new action comedy before its streaming release on January 12, and opinions seem to be less than favorable.
Kaley Cuoco — in her first movie playing a mom — stars with David Oyelowo as married parents of two Dave and Emma. The couple decide to spice up their marriage with some role play, leading Dave to discover that his wife is leading a double life. Peyton Robinson of RogerEbert.com rates it just 1 star out of 4, saying Role Play provides feeble fight scenes and too few laughs. The result is a movie that feels more like a screen test than completed product, Robinson says, writing:
Role Play intends to be a fun film but doesn’t take any time to revel in the elements that would make it so. There are a few chuckles along the way, mostly from Oyelowo’s Dave, whose incredulity and desperation within his circumstances allows a handful of witty one-liners (such as telling Emma to ‘take a class’ when she exclaims that killing is all she knows how to do). However, Cuoco, despite previous proof of her comedic chops, feels hollow. Even in scenes of proposed badassery, her performance falls flat.
Matt Hambridge of FandomWire also calls out the movie for not providing many laughs, adding to that minimal action and few thrills. Only partially saved by its lead actors, Role Play is another forgettable January release, and Hambridge rates it 4 out of 10, saying:
Role Play isn’t necessarily a bad movie. It’s just that it’s so bland and forgettable. It doesn’t make a single interesting choice anywhere along the way. And it’s a shame. The basic setup could allow for a fun, thrilling action adventure. An international assassin on the run lends itself to globe trotting adventures, with shootouts, fight scenes, car chases. Role Play barely has any of that. There are only a couple of (extremely) short fight scenes, nothing special. There’s a car chase, but it’s about as unexciting as you can make a car chase.
Coleman Spilde of The Daily Beast advises people to “Skip This,” as not even Kaley Cuoco can save it from its lack of verve. Role Play doesn’t allow time for her character to work through her moral dilemmas, and it doesn’t provide enough action. Spilde continues:
Once more information about Emma’s past ekes out of the woodwork, the film buckles under their added weight. Screenwriters Andrew Baldwin and Seth W. Owen can’t quite decide where they want the film to go and how intense they want to make it. This tonal inconsistency wears heavily on the movie by its halfway point, and Thomas Vincent’s style-deficient direction doesn’t provide enough supplementary flair to hold interest when things slow down.
Matt Donato of Paste gives it a 5.5 out of 10, saying the movie achieves the basic blueprint for “secret identity lover” films but lacks anything beyond the bare minimum, despite Kaley Cuoco’s efforts. Donato writes:
Pardon the low hanging fruit, but Role Play feels like it’s role-playing as its better genre inspirations. It’s competent on the surface, but shortsighted when acting out the possibly fatal scenario. Vincent delivers precisely what you’d expect, and that’s all. Cuoco showcases flashy moves and a slick spy-games attitude, but the film’s a lopsided endeavor where average action beatdowns outweigh any romantic engagement.
Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy seems to agree, calling Role Play “bland and inoffensive.” The critic rates the movie 2 out of 5 stars, writing:
The movie coasts by on its familiarity and the charisma of the always-watchable Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo. They're both capable of much more and you will wish they were given the chance to make this a truly unique spin on the genre. This is not that movie. You will forget it as soon as it's ended, but Role Play will likely keep you entertained enough as long as you don't expect it to spice up your life.
Critics don’t seem over-excited about Kaley Cuoco’s latest offering, though she and David Oyelowo do seem to be the best parts, according to many of the reviews. While Role Play holds a paltry 19% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes (from 19 reviews), the audience score is much higher at 75% Fresh. That’s from the less than 50 opinions submitted as of this writing, so both of those percentages are going to change as more people weigh in, but this could be an indication that viewers will embrace the movie despite critics' opinions.
Only time will tell, and if you want to form your own opinion, Role Play is available to stream now with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. Be sure to see what other films are headed our way soon by checking out our 2024 movie calendar.
