FilmSnobReviews

Title: Fair Play
MPA Rating: R
Director: Chloe Domont
Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

What It Is: Emily (Dynevor) and Luke (Ehrenreich) are two employees at a cutthroat financial firm. They are also completely in love with one and other. So much so that they’ve decided to get engaged. A promotion opens up at their job and Luke is CONVINCED he’s the man for the job. When Emily is the one that gets it not only does it throw their professional lives but also personal relationship through a loop. Can they survive this humongous change in the power dynamics?

What We Think: This is the smart, sexy type of small thriller they don’t really make anymore. The chemistry between Dynevor and Ehrenreich is palpable. From frame one their romance seems hot and heavy. Domont takes every opportunity to do a little light flexing with some of the angles and the film is all the better for it. In reality the films biggest blunder is the speed at which everything develops. This isn’t a film interested in TOO much exposition but I felt like here there simply wasn’t enough and we could’ve used a tad more. The zero to 180 turn by Luke here doesn’t feel as earned as it should and, again, I could’ve used a bit more to it.

Our Grade: C+, I’d like to see more films similar to this. Perhaps ones that do a better job of filling an almost two hour runtime. The pacing and lack of expository execution are the two cardinal sins this film commits. What keeps this ship afloat are the performances all of them grandiose enough to propel the narrative forward while utilizing the too fast pacing to make everything FEEL better than it is delivered. Nonetheless Netflix is really trying with their original films…more on this in another review. For now this is a sexy one that I would recommend…even if just slightly.