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Playing It Cool

Playing It Cool

Comedy · Romance · 2014

A young man meets and instantly falls in love with an engaged woman.

Movie details

Playing It Cool

“Love... it's a balancing act”

2014 Comedy · Romance 1h 34m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

A young man meets and instantly falls in love with an engaged woman.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Playing It Cool?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Justin Reardon

Written by

Paul Vicknair · Chris Shafer

Chris Evans

Chris Evans

Narrator

Michelle Monaghan

Michelle Monaghan

Her

Topher Grace

Topher Grace

Scott

Aubrey Plaza

Aubrey Plaza

Mallory

Luke Wilson

Luke Wilson

Samson

Martin Starr

Martin Starr

Lyle

Anthony Mackie

Anthony Mackie

Bryan

Court is in session

Put Playing It Cool on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Popcorn Loyalist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Big-Idea Head

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.