{"id":3453,"date":"2009-08-28T07:30:08","date_gmt":"2009-08-28T11:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=3453"},"modified":"2013-11-04T11:03:50","modified_gmt":"2013-11-04T16:03:50","slug":"marc-fienberg-play-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=3453","title":{"rendered":"Marc Fienberg & Play the Game (2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is an 83-year-old entertainment icon doing in bed with a well-known TV mother after being slipped a mickey with a sex pill in it?<\/p>\n

Inquiring minds want to know. And they\u2019ll get their answer if they go to see Play the Game, an\u00a0 engaging new coming of age\u2014and coming of aging\u2014comedy.<\/p>\n

The icon is none other than Andy Griffith<\/a>, a\/k\/a Sheriff Andy Taylor of the \u201860s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock of the \u201880s-\u201890s crime drama series. As for the TV mama, she\u2019s played by Liz Sheridan<\/a>, best known as Jerry\u2019s mother Helen in Seinfeld.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"play_the_game\"<\/p>\n

If the thought of Andy Taylor and Helen Seinfeld getting down on the big screen scares you\u2014no worries. The scene is humorous and good-natured and true to the picture\u2019s PG-13 rating, although it is still unexpected, considering the principals involved.<\/p>\n

In fact, Play the Game in itself is somewhat unexpected, a fresh, funny and sweet look at senior citizens with a parallel storyline involving younger people in similar situations.<\/p>\n

The plot centers on David Mitchell (Battlestar Galactica\u2019s Paul Campbell<\/a>), a car dealer teaching his Grandpa Joe (Griffith) contemporary tips on how to play the game in order to win women over. Grandpa eventually has that interlude with Mrs. Seinfeld and later takes a liking to Rose, played by Doris Roberts<\/a> (Everybody Loves Raymond). At the same time, David tries to use his strategies on Julie (Marla Sokoloff<\/a>), a perky young woman who happens to be Rose\u2019s granddaughter.<\/p>\n

Play the Game is the first feature from Marc Fienberg, a Chicago native, who recognizes that older audiences are typically overlooked by the Hollywood studios.<\/p>\n

\u201cHollywood says boomers or seniors don\u2019t see movies, but when someone makes one, they come out in droves,\u201d says Fienberg, who worked in the corporate world before ditching his comfortable job and moving to LA with his wife and kids to make movies. \u201cIn Florida, we tested Play the Game and it ended up playing for months. We spent almost nothing (on promotion or advertising), and it was all word of mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Play the Game opened in the Sunshine State during the spring and has taken in a healthy $400,000. It is now getting a broader release throughout the United States, and Fienberg, who also wrote and produced the low-budgeted project, is counting on a unique marketing tactic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have \u2018Grassroots Grandmas\u2019 who volunteer to get the word out,\u201d says Fienberg. \u201cA 75-year-old woman named Florence in Florida tells everyone. Now she\u2019s in New Jersey doing the same. The seniors have time on their hands, and the senior grapevine is faster and more powerful than Facebook in Florida. She (Florence) got 3000 people into movie theaters alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the strategy is finding Grassroots Grandmas\u2014and now we have them all over, including Florence in Jersey and Ellen in Philly. We\u2019ve become one of the top five independently distributed films in the country this year\u2014and when this film goes wider, there\u2019s a shot we\u2019ll be number one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cFlorence\u201d that Fienberg talks about happens to be Florence Seidelman, mother of Susan Seidelman<\/a>, the director of Desperately Seeking Susan, as well as The Boynton Beach Club, a 2005 independent film that centered on the lives of senior citizens in a Florida development. Fienberg says the 75-year old Florence, who also produced and co-wrote The Boynton Beach Club, has been an inspiration to him and incredibly helpful in helping Fienberg market Play the Game.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I know this isn\u2019t the type of film that gets into Sundance, but we knew there was an audience out there, including those snowbirds in Florida,\u201d says the filmmaker. \u201cFlorence was essential in getting the word out. She\u2019s really amazing, full of energy. At 75, she\u2019s even about to produce a play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The play she\u2019s producing, in fact, is a musical version of The Boynton Beach Club.<\/p>\n

Of course, Andy Griffith\u2019s name has been important to get audiences interested, as well. It holds \u00a0a lot of weight to older filmgoers and baby boomers who grew up watching him on his TV series, and in such films as No Time For Sergeants and A Face in the Crowd. Meanwhile, younger movie fans may recall him recently co-starring as the cantankerous diner owner in the 2007 indie hit Waitress.<\/p>\n

Fienberg, who based the film on his relationship with his own grandfather, says his Poppa Joe\u2019s favorite TV show was Matlock and his favorite actor was Griffith.<\/p>\n

How did he land the actor for his film?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a typical Hollywood thing where I sent the script to his agent and his agent sent it to him,\u201d recalls Fienberg, who now lives in L.A., where he shot Play the Game and is now fielding offers for film and commercials projects. \u201cHe (Griffith) told me later why he did it. He liked the role because he had a bedroom scene and he didn\u2019t die at the end of the script.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s reflective of the movie. Nobody dies here like in a Hollywood movie. This was all about living, and how seniors should not give up and look forward to love and companionship. That\u2019s why Liz and Doris took their roles too. When I told Liz she was going to have a bedroom scene, it sold her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefit of having Andy Griffith is that people view him as an endearing man like their grandparent,\u201d adds Fienberg. \u201cAnd let\u2019s face it: it\u2019s a deep dark secret, but seniors still do it. They need companionship and sex like the rest of us. Andy didn\u2019t have problems with it. He was playing a part he never played before, a part that represented his age in a positive light.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is an 83-year-old entertainment icon doing in bed with a well-known TV mother after being slipped a mickey with a sex pill in it? Inquiring minds want to know. And they\u2019ll get their answer if they go to see…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":3454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2095,5595,1670,1362],"coauthors":[1707],"class_list":["post-3453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-staff-notes","tag-2000-2009-movies","tag-movie-directors","tag-movie-interviews","tag-romantic-comedy-movies"],"yoast_head":"\n"Play The Game" Director Marc Fienberg Talks About His New Film<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Play The Game (2009) a new film by Director Marc Fienberg, starring Andy Griffith. 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