Kaley Cuoco's New Movie Continues Unfortunate Rotten Tomatoes Streak
The new movie isn't the biggest flop of Cuoco's career, but it's certainly not one she can brag about.
Summary
- Kaley Cuoco is one of the most popular actresses in television.
- Despite this, her participation in the new movie on Prime has been completely unfavorable.
- The ratings of the film on Rotten Tomatoes prove the fact that no movie project with Cuoco has been critically acclaimed in any way.
Kaley Cuoco may not be considered a Hollywood A-lister, but there's no denying that she's a very talented actress. As a television actress, she is of course best known for her role as Penny in all 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory, although she is also well remembered by fans of the cult fantasy drama Charmed for her role as Billie Jenkins in the final season. After TBBT, her fame only increased as she starred in the critically acclaimed dark comedy The Flight Attendant, and she voices Harley Quinn in the empowering and meta-humorous series of the same name.
All of which suggests that in 2024, Cuoco continues to be an in-demand actress. However, this is only true for television, as she has not had it so easy on the big screen. Although Cuoco has just as many roles in movies as she does in TV shows, and many of these projects have allowed her to work with major movie stars, none of the films she has starred in have been warmly received by critics. Unfortunately, the string of failures continued into 2024, as a new movie starring her on Prime Video only extended her unfortunate Rotten Tomatoes curse.
Prime Video's New Movie Featuring Kaley Cuoco
All couples have their little secrets. That is the gist of a new action comedy released on Prime Video on January 12, 2024. According to the plot, Dave (David Oyelowo) and Emma (Kaley Cuoco) are an average suburban couple who enjoy spicing up their romantic life with role-playing. Pretending to be complete strangers who met one day at a bar, the situation is suddenly complicated by the appearance of a mysterious man (Bill Nighy) linked to Emma's dark past. David must confront the shocking news that his wife is one of the world's most dangerous killers, hunted by both other assassins and the FBI, all while trying to save their marriage.
Role Play was directed by Thomas Vincent, who rose to fame with the 2016 drama The New Life of Paul Sneijder. According to him, the movie is a reimagining of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and deals with the hardships of family life in a 'seven-year itch' situation.
Critics Panned 2024's Role Play
As much as the director wanted his new movie to be in the vein of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in reality it's just another mediocre comedy that you can watch once, but you shouldn't expect much more from it. On Rotten Tomatoes, Role Play received only 51% approval from the audience and an unbelievably low 20% from the critics. According to the latter, the movie was too hollow and unable to find its own identity: too unfunny to be called a comedy and too unserious to be an action thriller.
The cast clearly enjoyed themselves, with Cuoco once again showing off her comedic chops and Oyelowo handling his uncharacteristically lighthearted role perfectly. Still, their talents aren't enough to overcome the film's negative reception.
Kaley Cuoco's Rotten Tomatoes Curse
As we mentioned, no feature film starring Cuoco has received any kind of critical acclaim. The highest rating on Rotten Tomatoes is for the 2022 romcom with Cuoco and Pete Davidson Meet Cute, with 59% from critics. It's followed by 2012's The Last Ride with 49%, and the biggest flop is Authors Anonymous with Chris Klein, which scored only 8%.
Considering Cuoco's many genuinely acclaimed performances on television, it's clear that she's by no means the reason for the failure of each of these feature-length projects. So here's hoping that her next movie, if it happens at all, can break her curse.
Source: EW, Rotten Tomatoes.