The Game Plan (2007)

The Game Plan is a 2007 family comedy film directed by Andy Fickman and starring Dwayne Johnson. This is the last film in which Johnson uses his ring name "The Rock." This is also the last Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista, due to Disney semi-retiring the name in May 2007, making all other future Disney movies (starting with Enchanted) permanently distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

The last game of the regular football season between the Boston Rebels and the New York Dukes ends in a touchdown by Rebels quarterback Joe Kingman (Dwayne Johnson) after he runs it into the end zone, ignoring an open wide receiver, Sanders (Morris Chestnut). The next morning, Kingman gets a surprise when an 8-year-old girl named Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis) shows up at his doorstep saying that she is his daughter and that her mother sent her here to meet him. Kingman's agent, Stella Peck (Kyra Sedgwick), thinks this will be bad for his image and distracts him with the upcoming playoffs.

At the opening of Kingman's restaurant, he leaves without Peyton, and the next morning is on cover of a tabloid in a magazine article. As a result, Peck decides Kingman needs a new fatherly image. Later, at a press conference, the reporters make Kingman miserable, until Peyton starts speaking and says that he is new to this and is trying the best he can, and that she thinks he is the best father in the world. To pay her forward for clearing his image at the press conference, Peyton has Kingman take her to a ballet academy run by Monique Vasquez (Roselyn Sanchez). Vasquez has Kingman join their ballet performance to show him that ballet takes just as much athletic ability as football. Kingman and Peyton begin their relationship after Peyton calls his arrogant and selfish behavior to his attention. Kingman takes Peyton and her friends to the mall where he begins to get along with Vasquez.

The Rebels eventually make it to the championship game and Stella tells Kingman that if he wins, he will be offered a $25 million endorsement with Fanny's Burgers, a successful fast food restaurant run by Samuel Blake Jr (Robert Torti). While at lunch with Peyton and Vasquez, Peyton accidentally tells Kingman that her mother does not know that she is with him, and that she was supposed to go to a ballet school program this month, but she ran away to be with him. He gets upset at her, and she has an allergic reaction to the nuts in the dessert, causing Kingman to rush her to the hospital for treatment. The doctors tell Kingman that she is going to be fine, while his former sister-in-law and Peyton's legal guardian, Karen Kelly (Paige Turco), arrives. Kingman comes to realize that Sara (Kathryn Fiore), Kingman's ex-wife and Peyton's mother, had died in a car accident six months ago. After overhearing Peck explaining that Peyton would be a distraction to Kingman, Karen and Peyton return home, leaving a miserable Kingman behind, following that night, Spike (Kingman's dog) finds Peyton's bag under her bed, inside, Kingman found some photos and a letter from Sara, saying that she hid Peyton away from Kingman because she's afraid that Peyton will only become a distraction for him. As the championship game begins, Kingman's thoughts keep drifting back to Peyton, and he is distracted from performing well. He is injured near the end of the first quarter, causing him to be rushed to the locker room as a result.

However, he is surprised to discover that Peyton has arrived with Karen. Peyton tells him to never give up. Near the end of the fourth quarter, Kingman passes the ball to the running back, Webber (Brian J. White), who gains positive yardage but fails to get out of bounds so the clock continues to run. Kingman rushes to call a final play and successfully does so. With no time left on the clock, he scrambles for a few yards but as he is being hit he throws a lob pass to Sanders who catches the pass, and the Rebels win their first championship. When being interviewed after the game, Joe announces that he will take his daughter home, thus ignoring the endorsement with Fanny's Burgers, saying that he would rather stay with Peyton. The film ends with Kingman, Peyton, and Vasquez dancing together in Kingman's apartment to Burning Love.

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