Director: Chloe Domont | Writer: Chloe Domont
Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan
With the quality of a Fifty Shades of Gray movie but without the sex appeal or casual entertainment value, Fair Play limps into the Netflix lineup and immediately shrinks away. Honestly, I liked the first Fifty Shades movie; that the next two were complete trash doesn’t change that. Fair Play can only manage make believe; it’s pretending to be a film and pretending to cutting edge. It’s neither of those things, and it simply sucks.
In a secret relationship with each other, NYC wealth management wizards Emily and Luke try to get rich while trying to get married at the same time. They figure they’ll work it all out on the fly, they’re young and meant for great things after all, obviously. But life isn’t that simple. Jealousy and despair lurk in dark corners, and a high pressure job doesn’t help craft happy homemakers.
This movie tries to be so daring and sharp, but it’s not; it’s a fraud. Every word and action feels like a skit, not like a story, like we know the actors are playing make-believe and we’re supposed to pretend they’re doing a good job. Well, they’re not. Dynevor was terrible as Emily, just awful, and I fear the magic that used to surround Ehrenreich has worn completely off. Fair Play is forced and not at all clever; the sex is weird, the anger is not believable, and the attempts at a Wolf of Wall Street atmosphere are laughable. Hard pass recommended.
My rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆