If there is a problem with Playing it Cool (2014), it is the title.  It is a romantic comedy, which means you should be ready for a lot of expected beats.  Indeed, it makes fun of the formulaic nature of such films with the main character, the confusingly listed Me (Chris Evans), being a screen writer tasked with penning one of these commonplace stories.  Then there is the story-within-the-story as Me meets the equally strangely named Her (Michelle Monaghan) as he struggles with coming up with ideas about love, which he thinks is a myth.  We will explore the reasons for his skepticism later.  For me, part of the reason I am drawn to this subgenre is because love is a central part of Faith.  Love is nothing to be cool about.  Christians are taught to love God over everything, including ourselves and spouses.  Such is an idea you never see in these movies, but I keep looking.  Having viewed so many of them, I can at least give credit to this one for trying to give what it feels is an honest take on the topic.  Unfortunately, because this is Hollywood, this means the added burden of throwing premarital sex into the situation, which is never a good thing.  As for the rest, I will try to find some kernels of truth to relate how God could be speaking through its content.

Speaking of Me, his approach to love at the outset is to be Playing it Cool.  As just discussed, this means never getting too close to women because he suspects they will always leave him.  This distrust stems from when he was a boy (Jaeden Martell) and his mother (Henrietta Meire) abandons him to the care of his Granddad (Philip Baker Hall).  Hence, the second any women Me has been intimate with confesses feelings beyond their fling, he says they are not right for him.  Because of his woundedness (and yes, this is yours truly applying Catholic thinking here), he is not eager to write the screenplay assignment given him by his agent, Bryan (Anthony Mackie), of a romantic comedy about two people with multiple personality disorders falling in love.  Regardless, Me agrees to do it, and his fellow writers suggest that he needs to get out and meet women in order to get some experience for his work.  While at a charity event with his best friend and fellow author, Scott (Topher Grace), Me encounters Her.  There is something different about Her, and they spend the evening laughing together until she returns to her boyfriend’s arm, an Englishman Me refers to as Stuffy (Ioan Gruffud).  Me is more than shocked by this development.  He is hurt, having already felt like their connection was going to lead to something more.  Because of this, he cannot get her off his mind, even when he is doing inappropriate things with another woman in order to forget Her.  He made a mistake, however, in not getting Her’s name or number.  Thus, so determined is he to see Her again, he starts attending random charity functions, thinking that she will show up at another one.  So many of these functions does he attend that another frequenter (Patrick Warburton) assumes that he is some kind of philanthropist.  Me heavily leans into the lie and is asked to give a speech.  While he is at the podium he finally spots Her.  In his excitement to be speaking to her once more, he does not tell the truth about his background, so she goes on presuming that he cares deeply about endangered frogs.  At the same time, they initially try to keep their relationship platonic, she remaining committed to Stuffy.  Me keeps his writer friends appraised of these developments, and they all caution him to have the eponymous attitude.  Further, in his mind he is saying all the correct things to maintain that distance, but his heart, which he visualizes as himself looking like a chain-smoking member of the Blues Brothers, says otherwise.  One night, he asks her to go for a late walk, and they share private details about their past.  By the end of it, he is kissing her, but that is as far as it goes.  This is the point where the discussion of premarital sex starts and things get messy.  It is his friends’ advice that Me sleep with Her, which he tries to reject.  This stance is immediately forgotten the next time they speak, with Her telling Me that the kiss had crossed a line.  He convinces her that the only solution is to be more physically intimate, the absurd notion being that it will reveal how they truly feel about each other.  In fairness, it does what they expect, but not in the way they expect.  They clearly love each other, but she remains devoted to Stuffy because he represents stability.  Me does not take Her words well.  Then, incredibly, she calls to say she is ready to be with him.  While they talk over lunch, the charity man happens to be at the same restaurant, and Me is forced to admit his real background.  Her departs in anger, and again Me is plunged into despair.  She then calls him to tell him that she is engaged to Stuffy.  Me’s friends are also upset with him, such as when Me admits to Scott that he had not read Scott’s favorite book.  Then another of his author companions, Mallory (Aubrey Plaza), tells Me that she has always loved him.  It is the same kind of unrequited love he is experiencing, which only makes him feel worse.  The worst comes, though, when Granddad passes away.  This last event puts things in perspective.  Upon finishing his screenplay and celebrating with his friends, he decides he is going to make one last attempt at winning Her.  Flying to San Francisco where Her’s wedding is taking place, Me searches all over the city for where she had said the ceremony would happen.  When he finally locates her, she is alone, having already left Stuffy at the altar.  Me tells Her they are perfect for each other because they are equally disasters.  They kiss.  The end.

The kiss at the conclusion of Playing It Cool is one of those clichéd, fairytale endings.  As I discussed in the introduction, the movie is about trying to be honest about stereotypical things you see in romantic comedies.  The practicing Catholic in me frowns at sex being the solution to the tension between Me and Her, though that, too, is something the subgenre often relies upon for resolving plot points.  Such intimacy changes things.  What is remarkable to this Catholic is that a society that increasingly does not bat its collective eye at sexual profligacy continues to contradict itself by placing such importance on the marital act.  If such acts are of no importance, that people can do whatever they like before marriage without consequences, why should it matter if Her and Me do adult stuff together?  Please understand, I am not trying to claim a personal moral high ground.  I have been guilty of such pleasures in my life more times than I care to admit, but I do try to do better, and will continue to believe that celibacy before marriage is the right choice.  A movie like this one, if it could talk for itself, would argue that it is acceptable between two people that love each other.  Catholicism agrees with this stance so long as the two people in question are married.  Sex is, according to Pope St. John Paul the Great’s Theology of the Body, as close as we will ever come to God’s creative power.  That is not to say that every coupling must result in pregnancy.  It does mean that spouses are invited to enjoy sex because it helps them become closer to God in a specific way only they can experience.  What separates them from what Her and Me is the sacrament of marriage.  Through the Holy Spirit, husband and wife become one flesh.  You might say that technically happens in a physical way during intercourse, and that may feel powerful if you love one another as these two do.  Ultimately, without God, something will always be missing.

God is missing from most movies, not just Playing it Cool.  In the end, what Me experiences is unrequited love, up until the last minute.  Whatever it is that happens with Her, he will only get what he truly seeks but does not want to acknowledge in seeking a relationship with God.  Then again, I could say the same thing about nearly every film I see.  In the meantime, I would exercise caution with this one.