Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Enjoyable romcom has sex, language, heavy drinking.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Players
What's the Story?
Mack (Gina Rodriguez) is a journalist covering local sports for a shrinking Brooklyn newspaper in PLAYERS. She's working on a big feature story that she hopes can help her save her job, and in the meantime, she and her best buddies spend every night hunting down one-night-stands at bars. She and Adam (Damon Wayans Jr.), Brannagan (Augustus Prew), and Brannagan's little brother, called Little (Joel Courtney), have been friends for years. Little starts dating their coworker Ashley (Liza Koshy), bringing another woman into the group. Mack forms a crush on Pulitzer Prize-competing correspondent Nick (Tom Ellis), and she enlists the gang to help her land him. She's ready to settle down, but is Nick the one?
Is It Any Good?
Gina Rodriguez, of Jane the Virgin fame, can light up just about any screen, and she proves it once again in this enjoyable thirty-something romcom. Rodriguez is backed by a colorful group of secondaries in Players, a friend group referred to in the film as "ride or die... but psycho." That about sums up their comical close-knit group, scripted with memorable personalities and rapid-fire banter. Sports provides their framework, and the characters work as a team, taking turns "coaching" each other. The well-honed "plays" they enact in bars to bag singles is a funny idea, as is the Oceans Eleven-style reconnaissance mission they implement to help one land the guy of her dreams. Of course, reality turns out to be better than the dream, and the film makes a lovely case for choosing your best friend as your life partner.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the idea of "running plays," like the characters in Players. Do you think those kinds of tricks work? Why is this not a good way to start a real relationship?
What did you think of the portrayal of working thirtysomethings? What aspects felt realistic and which didn't?
Did you guess Adam's feelings? How did you know?
What are some conventions of romantic comedies? Did this film have some aspects in common with other romcoms you've watched?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : February 14, 2024
- Cast : Gina Rodriguez , Damon Wayans Jr. , Tom Ellis
- Director : Trish Sie
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s) , Female Movie Actor(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Friendship
- Run time : 105 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : language, some sexual material and teen drinking
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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