Adulting can mean a lot of different things to all of us. For some of us, it is a process where we begin to understand what maturity is, for some, it is an age of discovery, and exploration, and for some, adulting could also signify the time when they start taking responsibilities.
No matter how old you are, the circle of friends that you linger around really makes a lasting impression on your activities, and routines. Be it clubbing, or playing Uno, your friend circle is nothing but most of its members are in agreement with what you all do together. I think that we are most comfortable, as well as wild, with our friends, and all of what we do would not even be remotely fun, if it is not with them!
Since we are talking so highly about friendships, it should also be said, that friends go to the most absurd level possible to help with something that we desperately need, or wish for. As a matter of fact, it is very much possible, that friends hijack our goals, and turn them into their own at some point. A similar thing happens in the new Netflix Rom-Com called ‘Players’. Well, it is not exactly a Rom-Com, but yeah, it tries at some points. So let’s talk about it in detail.
A ‘Play’ Is The ‘Way’
The film starts with a plan – A plan of hooking up with a stranger. With the animated opening credit sequence, we hear a very elaborative plan of the group, around which the film will actually revolve. The group of friends discusses everything about their ‘target’, from their lip gloss, to their choice of clothing in the plan, and finally employ a ‘play’ that would best suit to get a member into a one-night stand with the target.
Now what is a ‘play’ here? Well, according to the lingo used in this group, a ‘play’ is an act that shall be performed to woo the target, and get them into a situation where letting their guard down is the only option. The ‘play’ is more of a character in this film, since whatever happens in the narrative, it is because of the play. The strategies, and the facades these friends device for each of their targets are both hilarious and smart!
The Crazy Group
The group that I have been talking about consists of 4 people namely Mack, Adam, Bran, and Little. Little is a jobless guy, who is a brother to Bran. Bran, Mack, and Adam on the other hand, are employees of a news agency. Whether these guys are colleagues turned friends, or friends turned colleagues is not answered in this film, but their chemistry with each other seems brilliant, so I’ll go with the latter.
Handling different departments in the agency, these people also work in a similar fashion when it comes to the ‘play’.
Related: Players Cast and Characters Explained in Details!
Adulting, And Then Stepping Down Again
Mack, of all the friends, falls for a renowned writer Nick (Played by Tom Ellis), and feels that she needs to settle in life, and create a family with him. What pulls her away from devising a ‘play’, brings her into a loop as she ploys a play to finally get closer to Nick, and make it so Nick never feels that Mack was after him. Brilliant, right?
Mack feels that Nick was the ‘man’ she was looking for among the ‘children’ she hooked up with. She thinks that she is wiser when it comes to wooing people, but her habit of plotting ‘plays’ shadows her maturity, and tells us that she has a childlike persistence when it comes to get what she really wants.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
What You Want Is Not Essentially What You Need
Mack, with her smartness, and support from her friends finally gets into a relationship with Nick, and everything in her life is bubbly, and blossomy in the beginning. Mack starts feeling that even though their preferences and perspectives are different in life, her life has become perfect now that she is with Nick. These differences start ruining things between them, but once Mack realises that she has already changed herself a lot for Nick, and now Nick is interfering in her work as well, she decides to end it.
When she tries to introspect, Mack realises that she was so blindly after Nick, that she paid no attention to whether he was even meant for her. It happens to all of us at some point. We feel like we want something, and our stubbornness leads us towards it, but only a few of us understand that it might not be meant for us, until it’s too late.
Related: Players: Summary And Ending Explained!
Conclusion
‘Players’ is a very confused film in itself. It is fun at some moments, but lame at the others (With ‘other’ moments higher in quantity). It is basically a teenage drama, but seen from the eyes of 30-year-olds. When it’s about teenagers, we ignore the stupid acts in the name of ‘innocence’, but when the same is done by mature characters, it is hardly gullible.
The film is entertaining up until the group devises unique ‘plays’ to lure their targets, but when we are given the ‘Nick and Mack’ angle, the film becomes boring. The makers may have thought to end, with Nick and Mack’s relationship as a pivotal point in the narrative, but they didn’t execute it well enough for it to become as impactful.
With a totally different lingo, and diverse references in the beginning, it seems that this film is not meant for everyone outside of America, but you soon get to understand things, and the references start becoming less relevant.
Performances in this film are good, and the actors have carried their characters till the very end, and all of them are likable in their respective nature.
In the end, I would say that ‘Players’ could have been a better film, had the writers written a good turning point for the relationship between Mack, and Nick. It would also have been great if the climax was unpredictable, since personally, I saw it coming from the very beginning.
‘Players’ has been streaming on Netflix since 14th February.
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