Trailer: Playing It Cool available to watch online in the UK on 2nd March
James R | On 23, Feb 2015
Chris Evans. Michelle Monaghan. Aubrey Plaza. Ioan Gruffud. No, this isn’t the cast list for a summer blockbuster or smash hit comedy: this is the list of people who star in Playing It Cool, which will be released straight to VOD in the UK on Monday 2nd March.
All those names and no theatrical distribution? You could be forgiven for hearing alarm bells. In fact, this romantic comedy was made all the way back in 2012, after its script was picked up off the Black List by Justin Reardon – and has since sat on a shelf somewhere not being released.
A romantic comedy starring Captain America himself not being rushed into cinemas? Don’t rule it out just yet: did we mention the cast also includes Anthony Mackie, Ashley Tisdale, Topher Grace, Giovanni Ribisi and Luke Wilson?
At this point, you’re probably wondering why you’ve never heard of this movie. That’s because it wasn’t always called Playing It Cool: it used to be called A Many Splintered Thing.
Yes, yes, we know. A film with a inexplicably good cast getting a straight to VOD release after being shelved for two years that’s had its name changed: things don’t look great. But a quick Google reminds us that A Many Splintered Thing was also the name of a BBC comedy starring Alan Davies as a composer stuck writing jingles for TV adverts. Maybe Ace Entertainment Films just didn’t want anyone to get confused and wonder why Alan Davies had suddenly morphed into Captain America.
Maybe not. Who knows? It hasn’t even been released in the US yet: it will go to VOD there a week after the UK’s premiere, then have a limited cinema run in May 2015.
But anyway, what’s it about? Chris Evans plays a writer who wants to write something that shows love how it really is – read: a downer. But then he falls for Michelle Monaghan’s woman, even though she’s already shacked up with another guy.
It’s not hard to guess what will happen – but on the other hand, maybe it is. We just don’t know. All we can tell you is this: a romantic comedy starring Chris Evans, Michelle Monaghan, Aubrey Plaza, Anthony Mackie, Ioan Gruffud and Luke Wilson will be available to watch online next week. We’ll have a review for you nearer the time.
Until then, here’s the trailer. It certainly doesn’t look like it deserved to be locked away for two years. After all, Alan Davies is very popular.
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