The trailer for Gerard Butler’s Playing For Keeps is like chicken soup for the soccer soul

So, if you’re having one of those days and you just need a light, fluffy pick me up, then this new trailer for the Gerard Butler starrer, PLAYING FOR KEEPS, just might do the trick.  Or, it could potentially have the opposite effect, as it did for me.  It’s very much like pouring a cup of sugar on top of a Cinnabon and having to eat it all in one bite. 

Co-starring Jessica Biel, Catherine Zeta Jones, Uma Thurman, and Dennis Quaid, the pic is directed by Gabriele Muccino (THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, SEVEN POUNDS) who specializes in tugging at those old heart strings with a manipulative lean. 

Here’s your spoonful of sugar:

I really like all the people involved in this, I just wish they were all in a different movie.  It doesn’t have one shred of story or dialogue that sings of originality, instead coming off as a Lifetime movie with a big budget.  I realize that not every movie has to be dark or violent to be good, and I’d heartily welcome a great drama, but this just feels like a repackaged fill-in-the-blank dramedy.  There’s always the possibility that the trailer isn’t selling the real deal, but I’m pretty sure you’ve already got this thing figured out from opening to closing credits.

Here’s the synopsis:

Butler stars as a former soccer star who returns home to put his life back together and rebuild a relationship with his son. He gets roped into coaching the boy’s soccer team, where his attempts to finally become an “adult” are met with hilarious challenges from the attractive soccer moms who pursue him at every turn.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS will kick its way into your heart for the holiday season on December 7, 2012.