History Film / PlayingItCool

* TrueArtIsAngsty[=/=]TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: InUniverse. No one knows what Mallory is trying to express in her one woman shows. The only thing that's clear in the show seen in the movie is that it has something to do with the trauma of childbirth.

''Playing It Cool'' is a 2014 romantic comedy directed by Justin Reardon and starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Creator/MichelleMonaghan, with Creator/IoanGruffudd, Creator/LukeWilson, Creator/TopherGrace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, Creator/PeytonList, Creator/AnthonyMackie and Creator/PhilipBakerHall appearing in supporting roles.

[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/playing_it_cool.jpg]]

The film centers around "Me" (Evans), a screenwriter who has to write a romantic comedy. The problem is that he has no idea what love is and his friends aren't much help in improving his understanding of the emotion/concept. Then "Me" meets "Her" (Monaghan) at a charity event, finds himself dealing with feelings he never experienced before, and is immediately smitten with the woman. There's a wrinkle, however: "Her" has a boyfriend.

''Playing It Cool'' is a 2014 romantic comedy film directed by Justin Reardon, starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Creator/MichelleMonaghan with Creator/IoanGruffudd, Creator/LukeWilson, Creator/TopherGrace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, Creator/PeytonList, Creator/AnthonyMackie and Creator/PhilipBakerHall appearing in supporting roles.

''Playing It Cool'' is a romantic comedy starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Creator/MichelleMonaghan. Creator/IoanGruffudd, Creator/LukeWilson, Creator/TopherGrace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, Creator/PeytonList, Creator/AnthonyMackie and Creator/PhilipBakerHall appear in supporting roles.

The film centers around The Narrator (Evans), a screenwriter who has to write a romantic comedy. The problem is that he has no idea what love is and his friends aren't much help in improving his understanding of the emotion/concept. Then The Narrator meets Her at a charity event and he finds himself dealing with feelings he never experienced before and is immediately smitten with the woman. There's a wrinkle, however: Her has a boyfriend.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Granddad's derring-do story about wooing The Narrator's grandmother during World War II is anything but historically accurate let alone plausible.

* AsHimself: Matthew Morrison and Ashley Tisdale appear as figments of The Narrator's imagination and act out the parts he's writing for them as he works on his computer. They also appear in a nightmare threatening to kill The Narrator for taking too long to write their movie.
* BetterThanABareBulb: The Narrator and his friends are all writers so they frequently bring up and discuss the shortcomings of various romantic comedy tropes.
* BerserkButton: The Narrator can't even look at a box of Cap'n Crunch because his mother stuck her goodbye note onto a box when he was a child.
* BettyAndVeronica: Her has to choose between Stuffy (who offers her everything [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan she wants in a life partner]], but who also apparently bores her enough to make her flirt with strange men at parties) as "Betty" and the Narrator (with whom she's got great [[UnresolvedSexualTension personal chemistry]], but who is also [[ManChild childish]] and [[BrilliantButLazy unreliable]]) as "Veronica." [[spoiler: She eventually chooses the Narrator, and he is shown to at least be working on overcoming his flaws.]]
* CentralTheme: Should the Narrator stay out of Her's life (which may be a cowardly decision that could cost both a chance at true love and lasting happiness) or try to convince her to be with him (which may be a selfish decision that could mess up the imperfect but functional life she has built for herself)? Different characters have different opinions, and several even change them throughout the movie. [[spoiler: The Narrator eventually chooses the second option, but we don't get to see how it turns out.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The montage of alter egos The Narrator goes through at the beginning of the film all play a role in his growth as a character later on.
* CurbStompBattle: The Narrator briefly fantasizes about kicking Stuffy's ass before coming back to the reality that he's ''very'' drunk and can barely stand. Stuffy gets in two solid blows before The Narrator collapses and pukes all over Stuffy's shoes.
* DoubleStandard: The Narrator and Her have a snarky conversation about a few of these early on. The Narrator complains that he doesn't get [[MaleGaze ogled and objectified enough,]] while Her laments that men just want her for her body instead of [[GoldDigger wanting her for her money.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the final scene, [[spoiler: the Narrator tells Her that they may well end up making each other miserable but he still wants to try, and convinces her to give their relationship a shot.]] The movie ends abruptly there, leaving it unsaid how it turned out.
* FreudianExcuse: The Narrator is cynical about love because his mother abandoned him when he was a child to move to Chile with her boyfriend. He believes that if something as pure as the connection between a mother and child can be broken so easily, then there's no hope for a romantic relationship.
* NoNameGiven: The Narrator, Her, and Stuffy aren't addressed by name at any point in the film or in the credits.
* ParentalAbandonment: The Narrator's mother walked out on him when he was just a child.

* RatedMForManly: When the Narrator complains that Granddad's story sounds like a Disney movie, Granddad insists that it's in fact a very manly story and starts adding a lot of action and feats of badassery that he [[UnreliableNarrator supposedly]] performed. As a result, the Narrator starts imagining it as an over-the-top-macho comic book full of blood and explosions, with a muscular, bare-chested PerpetualFrowner protagonist.
* WimpFight: The Narrator and Stuffy get into a fistfight. The Narrator is so drunk that he doesn't even get to throw a punch. Stuffy gets in two hits before the Narrator pukes all over his shoes, causing him to stomp off complaining about how the stain probably won't come out of the suede.

* TrueCompanions: What the Narrator decides that his circle of friends is to him, and that he needs to take better care of them.

* RealityEnsues: The Narrator briefly fantasizes about kicking Stuffy's ass before coming back to the reality that he's ''very'' drunk and can barely stand. Stuffy gets in two solid blows before The Narrator collapses and pukes all over Stuffy's shoes.

''Playing It Cool'' is a romantic comedy starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Creator/MichelleMonaghan. Creator/IoanGruffudd, Luke Wilson, Creator/TopherGrace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, Creator/AnthonyMackie and Philip Baker Hall appear in supporting roles.

''Playing It Cool'' is a romantic comedy starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Michelle Monaghan. Creator/IoanGruffudd, Luke Wilson, Creator/TopherGrace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, Creator/AnthonyMackie and Philip Baker Hall appear in supporting roles.

''Playing It Cool'' is a romantic comedy starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Michelle Monaghan. Creator/IoanGruffudd, Luke Wilson, Topher Grace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, Creator/AnthonyMackie and Philip Baker Hall appear in supporting roles.

* RatedMForManly: When the Narrator complains that Granddad's story sounds like a Disney movie, Granddad insists that it's in fact a very manly story and starts adding a lot of action and feats of [[BadAss badassery]] that he [[UnreliableNarrator supposedly]] performed. As a result, the Narrator starts imagining it as an over-the-top-macho comic book full of blood and explosions, with a muscular, bare-chested PerpetualFrowner protagonist.

'''''Playing It Cool''''' is a romantic comedy starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Michelle Monaghan. Creator/IoanGruffudd, Luke Wilson, Topher Grace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, Creator/AnthonyMackie and Philip Baker Hall appear in supporting roles.

* BettyAndVeronica: Her has to choose between Stuffy (who offers her everything [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan she wants in a life partner]], but who also apparently bores her enough to make her flirt with strange men at parties) as "Betty" and the Narrator (with whom she's got great [[UnresolvedSexualTension persona chemistry]], but who is also [[ManChild childish]] and [[BrilliantButLazy unreliable]]) as "Veronica." [[spoiler: She eventually chooses the Narrator, and he is shown to at least be working on overcoming his flaws.]]

* BettyAndVeronica: Her has to choose between Stuffy (who offers her everything [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan she want in a life partner]], but who also apparently bores her enough to make her flirt with strange men at parties) as "Betty" and the Narrator (with whom she's got great [[UnresolvedSexualTension persona chemistry]], but who is also [[ManChild childish]] and [[BrilliantButLazy unreliable]]) as "Veronica." [[spoiler: She eventually chooses the Narrator, and he is shown to at least be working on overcoming his flaws.]]

* TrueArtIsAngsty[=/=]TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: InUniverse. No one knows what Mallory is trying to express in her one woman shows. The only thing that's clear in the show seen in the movie is that it has something to do with the trauma of childbirth.

* RatedMForManly: When the Narrator complains that Granddad's story sounds like a Disney movie, Granddad insists that it's in fact a very manly story and starts adding a lot of action and feats of [[BadAss badassery]] that he [[UnreliableNarrator supposedly]] performed. As a result, the Narrator starts imagining it as an over-the-top-macho comic book full of blood and explosion, with a muscular, bare-chested PerpetualFrowner protagonist.

* ChekhovsGun: The montage of alteregos The Narrator goes through at the beginning of the film all play a role in his growth as a character later on.

'''''Playing It Cool''''' is a romantic comedy starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Michelle Monaghan. Creator/IoanGruffudd, Luke Wilson, Topher Grace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, Antonie Mackie and Philip Baker Hall appear in supporting roles.

'''''Playing It Cool''''' is a romantic comedy starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Michelle Monaghan. Creator/IoanGruffudd, Luke Wilson, Topher Grace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, and Philip Baker Hall appear in supporting roles.

* TrueArtIsAngsty[=/=]TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: No one knows what Mallory is trying to express in her one woman shows. The only thing that's clear in the show seen in the movie is that it has something to do with the trauma of childbirth.

* RealityEnsues: The Narrator briefly fantasizes about kicking Stuffy's ass before coming back to the reality that he's ''very'' drunk and can barely stand. Stuffy gets in two solid blows before The Narrator collapses and pukes all over Stuffy's shoes.

'''''Playing It Cool''' is a romantic comedy starring Creator/ChrisEvans and Michelle Monaghan. Creator/IoanGruffudd, Luke Wilson, Topher Grace, Creator/AubreyPlaza, and Philip Baker Hall appear in supporting roles.