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Pettis has a certain innate cuteness but is not the most gifted of child actors, though it certainly doesn't help that her character is written as one of those hip, smart, mature-beyond-their-years children who frequently get to upstage the grown-ups. Believable, she isn't. Then again, Peyton's precociousness is of a piece with this movie's wildly exaggerated sensibility in other areas. Johnson, at least, has a good-natured charm that keeps the movie watchable even at its most formulaic. As comedies go, The Game Plan is strictly by the playbook, but Johnson is game for anything, and he does a fine job of entertaining the child in all of us.

Talk About It

1. How important is money, fame, and popularity? Is it wrong for Joe to have these things? If not, how should he handle these things?
2. Have you ever had to learn to be less selfish, like Joe does? How did you do it?
3. How does Joe humble himself over the course of the movie? How can we learn humility in our own lives?
4. How important is it for a child to live with his or her father or mother? What if the parent has no prior experience or idea how to raise a child? Do you think the decision Joe and Peyton, etc., make in the end is believable? Do you think it is right?

The Family Corner

The Game Plan is rated PG for some mild thematic elements, including very discreet references to the fact that Joe Kingman is a ladies' man. But Joe learns important lessons about family and putting other people first. Also, after frequent reminders that a fast-food chain's burgers give people gas, one character proves it.

Photos © Copyright Walt Disney Pictures

© Peter T. Chattaway subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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