Emma (Kaley Cuoco) arrives home from a business trip, having completely forgotten her wedding anniversary. To make amends with her husband, Dave (David Oyelowo), she suggests a role-playing game: “two strangers meeting at a hotel bar.” Their date is interrupted by a mysterious gentleman named Bob (Bill Nighy), who buys them drinks and peppers the evening with killer puns. The next day, news breaks of a murder at the very same hotel. That’s how Dave discovers his wife is a hitwoman.
Bill Nighy as Bob in “Role Play”
A Killer Revelation
Unlike poor Dave, the audience is clued in from the start about Emma’s double life. Kaley Cuoco effortlessly switches wigs and dispatches her targets with flair. Her status as a top assassin puts a hefty bounty on her head. Realistically, she should lie low, but that wouldn’t make for much of a movie, would it?
The original title, “Role Play,” alludes to the fateful evening when everything goes sideways. The Russian distributors, as usual, took a bit of a detour with the title. “My Wife is a Killer” sets a completely different tone, theoretically aiming to attract fans of action flicks like “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” However, it’s clear that the scale of those titles is vastly different.
David Oyelowo as Dave in “Role Play”
Straight to Streaming
In most countries, “Role Play” will skip theaters and head straight to Amazon Prime Video. Russian viewers, however, get a chance to see it in cinemas a month before its digital release. A dubious privilege, to say the least. The film is clearly tailored for a streaming platform, and it shows. The plot is unremarkable, the characters are lifeless, humor is scarce, and the action is mediocre. There’s nothing here that warrants a big-screen viewing.
Missed the Mark
One expects modest things from a streaming comedy-action film. At best, you get a disposable, unoriginal movie that entertains briefly but quickly fades from memory. “Role Play” is indeed easily forgotten after the credits roll, but it doesn’t even entertain during its runtime. The hundred minutes drag on endlessly. The film fails to deliver a single funny joke and offers repetitive action. For a comedy-action film, this is unforgivable. Even the critically panned “Ghosted,” starring Ana de Armas and Chris Evans, feels more lively compared to “Role Play.”
Kaley Cuoco as Emma in “Role Play”
The film is directed by the middling talents of director Thomas Vincent (“Jack Reacher,” “Bodyguard”) and writer Seth W. Owen (“Morgan,” “Seen Night”). The creators seem unsure of their target audience or purpose. The film is riddled with clichés and tropes that even casual viewers have grown tired of. The supposedly unexpected twist in the third act feels like a complete disregard for the audience; it’s unlikely anyone will fall for such a cheap trick. However, even that pales in comparison to the simplistic “heroes ride off into the sunset” ending. The cast held promise, but neither Kaley Cuoco’s killer charm (“The Big Bang Theory,” “The Flight Attendant”) nor Bill Nighy’s dazzling performance (“Love Actually,” “Pirate Radio”) can save the situation. Nighy appears only to down a few shots and crack some puns. From there, it’s all downhill.
Final Verdict
“Role Play” doesn’t deliver the knockout punch its creators intended; instead, it’s a rather lifeless film. Ultimately, it’s likely to get lost among the countless other forgettable projects in the streaming catalog.