A Rocky Start

Given the movie's sporting milieu and the noticeable improvement in quality about an hour in, it seems apt to call this Disney vehicle for Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson a film of two halves.

Yes, American Football is played out in quarters, but the analogy is spot on here – wearisome slapstick (exploding or overflowing gadgets galore) and Rock's narcissistic clichés giving way to some quite tender moments between father and newfound daughter.

Already a smash in the US last Autumn, the American-centric sports elements won't resonate so highly over here. That said, the combination of Dwayne's fine physique and the notion of his selfish ways being changed by an eight-year-old girl could well lead to sticky seats in multiplexes everywhere. It's no coincidence that this cardiovascular workout, which eventually pumps blood into selfish sports icon Joe Kingman's well-hidden heart, has female writers flexing their muscles.

The first hour is pure kid's stuff, introducing Kingman as Boston Rebels' star player, a confirmed bachelor with a chic remote controlled apartment and an overinflated ego. Despite his superstar Gridiron status and trophies aplenty, a championship ring still eludes him. Therefore, the last thing he wants is the distraction of a precocious eight-year-old daughter he never knew existed coming to stay for a month, while her mum does charity work in The Sudan. Credible plotting is not the movie's greatest strength.

Nor, indeed, are the lengthy scenes of Peyton, played by an extraordinarily irritating child actress, messing up Joe's ordered existence by getting in the way at home, work and play. Quite why a guy who can afford a $40,000 couch doesn't just hire a sitter is a mystery. Anyhow, thus begins the slow melting of Kingman's hard exterior, which goes on about a half hour longer than necessary to get to the point.

The much improved second half stems from an unexpected source: young Peyton's ballet class and their planned rendition of Swan Lake.