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Two Can Play That Game
Metascore
35 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 21
  3. Negative: 8 out of 21
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  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    75
    A snappily fun Mantrap Movie, as films about husband-hunting gals are known, is that rare hybrid of romantic comedy and Super Bowl.
  2. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Perry
    75
    In addition to the film's two extremely likable stars, the strong supporting cast features a who's who of rising African-American actors.
  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    The movie does have charm and moments of humor, but what it doesn't have is romance.
  4. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Connie Ogle
    63
    The movie still manages to unearth laughs, some of them pretty big, especially once Shanté's program is under way.
  5. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Stephen Miller
    60
    A sassy romantic battle of the sexes with a refreshing African-American slant.
  6. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    60
    Writer-director Mark Brown ruptures and restores the realism in this romantic comedy with ease, dispensing earnest wisdom with a little tongue in cheek instead of undermining it with a lot of irony.
  7. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Gary Dowell
    58
    An endearing romantic comedy that pokes fun at the ridiculous things people do for love.
  8. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    50
    The best scenes are the ones that Fox shares with Tamala Jones, Wendy Raquel Robinson and the full-figured Monique as her sassy girlfriends. There's a ripe, crackling spontaneity when these women get together.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    Women may appear a bit smarter here, but both sexes are portrayed as superficial and silly.
  10. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    42
    Along comes Two Can Play That Game to demonstrate that antifeminist silliness is color-blind.
  11. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    40
    Ultimately feels somewhat overprocessed, and its humor is a little too broad at times -- it probably crosses the acceptable threshold of penis and boob jokes.
  12. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Gene Seymour
    40
    There probably isn't another actress anywhere who could make that corny self-advertisement work. And there definitely isn't another actress who could make such an overbearing heroine worth watching for an hour and a half.
  13. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    40
    A likable, featherweight romantic comedy that hardly asks to be taken seriously, but its very triviality is, in some ways, quite significant.
  14. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    38
    Aside from the shamelessly promoted corporate sponsors, nobody emerges from this game a winner. But the biggest losers are the ones who paid good money to watch it.
  15. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    38
    The characters are so cartoonish, it's hard to care on any level -- except that it wastes such talented performers.
  16. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    30
    Ultimately neither freewheeling enough to work as a diverting entertainment nor barbed enough to strike home as any sort of social commentary.
  17. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    Doesn't anyone get sick of this same old routine?
  18. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    30
    Too bad very few of these high jinks are actually funny -- the outtakes at the end of the film suggest a more relaxed ensemble vibe that the film proper was unable to retain.
  19. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Loren King
    25
    Throws its obvious predecessor, "Waiting to Exhale," into relief, making that 1995 syrupy revenge fantasy look positively Shakespearean next to the moronic Two Can Play That Game.
  20. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Mark Holcomb
    10
    It's the summer's most disingenuous movie -- a real achievement in a waning season that included Tim Burton's "Banana Splits" remake.
  21. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    10
    Few recent movies have conceived their central female character more contemptuously -- a fanatic for a lifestyle that appears to have come from the bestselling "The Rules."
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