Three days after watching “The Family Plan," which is a spectacular movie by the way, I cozied up in bed, ready to watch “Role Play.”.
I was so stoked because Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo were the lead characters in it. I mean, till date, I ain’t ever seen a movie with Kaley in it that ended up being trash, so of course I was excited.
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But tell me why, thirty minutes into the movie, I started having some serious déjà vu moments? 😅😅 A scene would come on, and I’d think, “Hmm, this looks awfully familiar; have I watched this movie before?” But I know I hadn’t because the movie just came out! So what was the issue?
Well, by the end of it, I finally realized that it wasn’t just déjà vu; the movie as a whole had a very similar plot, if not the same, to one I had just watched days prior. And that’s never a good thing. Every movie is supposed to be uniquely entertaining.
Anyway, I did some research and found out that the writers for the two movies are two different people. “The Family Plan” was written by David Coggeshall, while “Role Play” was written by Seth Owen. I wonder if David invited Seth over for a guys’ night out and, probably drunk out of their minds, they both came up with the plot without knowing😄.
And then they got to their studios and developed it into a film, only for both movies to be released and turn out to be the same thing! How funny would that be 😄.
Well, let’s look at the similarities, shall we?
Similarities
Disclaimer: This is going to reveal some spoilers, so take note. TFP (the family plan) and RP (role play).
1 In TFP, Dan, played by Mark Wahlberg, is a former assassin turned father of three and husband. He got sick of killing people and wanted out of the group. So he ran away and remained under the radar. While he was out, he managed to get married to the love of his life, and together they have two teenagers and one baby.
In RP, Emma, played by Kaley Cuoco, is a former assassin turned wife and mother of two. Guess what? She also got sick of the lifestyle and found her way out of the network. She managed to stay under the radar, and while there, she managed to get married to Dave Brackett. Dave brought one child from a previous marriage, and Emma bore him a second one.
2 Dan tried his best to hide his double life from his wife by living life according to a strict but boring routine. He was an amazing father to his kids and an even better husband to his wife. But of course, he eventually got exposed when a picture of him got out.
Emma tried to hide this other side as best she could, with the help of her handler, but she kept slipping up on her wifey and mother duties. She still took on some low-risk jobs here and there. Her husband thinks that her frequent travels are job calls; apparently, she’s a journalist. A bounty was placed on her, though, so eventually she did get exposed.
3 Dan, in a bid to deal with the target on his back, disguises his plan as a family trip to Vegas. He keeps fighting off the people sent to kill him while miraculously still hiding the whole thing from his family.
Emma, also in a bid to hide the truth from her hubby, kills a man, takes a flight out of state to her handler for cover, and goes MIA on her family when the police start prodding the death of the man.
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4 Dan’s wife finds out about his past life when the bad guys after him rain bullets all through his hotel room with him and his wife in it. He eventually comes clean to his family, and together they all pitch in to get rid of the bad guys.
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Emma’s husband finds out when the police knock at his door to investigate. They are the ones who break the news about Emma’s past to him. He then manages to get Emma on the line, and surprisingly, he forgives. Together, they deal with the situation.
I know that must have been a lot to keep up with, but I do hope you were able to tell just how one-and-the same the two movies really are. One thing I can say is that, regardless of the similarities, the two movies are an absolute must-watch.
They are both the perfect blend of action, comedy, and romance. Get your popcorn and PJ’s ready because you are in for a treat! Just make sure to watch like five or six movies in between the two so you don’t notice the stark semblance.
Images are screenshots, except stated otherwise.