As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Sex, French-style. Several vignettes, some long, some short, some no more than sketches, some better than others, some serious, most not so serious, "The Players" is about infidelity and stars the always reliable, indeed reliably marvelous Jean Dujardin and Gallic Liam Neeson lookalike Gilles Lellouche, each playing several roles, mostly as boorish, over-sexed males getting their rocks off with any female in sight and ultimately with each other. For the most part this is a fun film and, despite having several different directors, is much better than it has any right to be. It certainly shows Dujardin off to good effect and proves, once and for all, that his Oscar wasn't a one-hit-wonder.

This is not an exceptional movie. It is not thought provoking. It offers little social commentary. Its funniest bits are unfortunately its briefest. It doesn't even have a lot of gratuitous nudity, except for a few shots of male butt. So what does it have going for it? For one thing, it's fairly well written. No character comes across as stupid or even unsympathetic, which is already a plus, given the subject. The acting is great. The French really can churn these sexy comedies out and keep a high standard of acting. In part, this is because French films are in a bit of a doldrums, so I suppose good actors are working B films and glad to get the work. But there really is a European sensibility present that might not translate too well for American audiences. For example, the therapy group in which habitual cheaters own up to their sins is a scream. For one thing, everyone talks honestly and in a straightforward manner about their situation, which makes their lack of understanding that they have a "problem" even funnier. They just don't get it, and of course, being European, no question of a butch man-hating therapist, though she recites the usual litany on marriage and faithfulness. This may be the best longer sequence of the bunch, since their naïve inability to see their problem, much less admit it, tells volumes about European attitudes that, like I said, may not translate too well for Americans. Don't get me wrong: their blindness is exaggerated to the point of parody, but it is a possible blindness, something that allows the actors and director (in this segment, it is star Dujardin, who plays about 6 roles) to adopt a lighter tone. Imagine a Woody Allen treatment of infidelity about 20 years ago. Take away the narcissism, the self-indulgent and pseudo philosophical rhetoric, and you get an idea of the scene. Another minor plus: one segment has a 50 year old dentist carrying on with a 19 year student, an affair that we are told started when she was 15. Although Americans don't portray 15 year old sex, a self-indulgent age difference is normal. Here, the cheater gets his comeuppance not from a criticizing wife but from his paramour's teen age friends, who take advantage of his wallet and mock his willingness to play a young man's game. This is what I like about the movie: an economical and not so politicised treatment of faithfulness (or not), and especially a treatment that probably could not be made in America.

The movie made big waves even before it hit the international cinema screens, because someone leaked the fact that a movie poster got held back because it was inappropriate and would have diminished Jean Dujardins chances of winning the Oscar (or was it just a publicity stunt?). The movie itself might be able to live off that controversy at first, but even after a few "shocking" moments at first, it'll have to stand on its own two feet (pun not intended).Dujardin and his partner (in crime) here show a real passion for that project. They go places you might expect them to go. But even if only Dujardin is on your radar (the other actor being very famous in France too), it is a lack of emotion for both characters and the triviality of the whole thing, that might make you want to stop watching it. The overall idea was nice and I still kind of like it, but it's anything but special ...

This is not an exceptional film. Its main quality, besides the good acting, is to explore the theme of infidelity in a manner not "socially correct". This is a movie with several skits(7 or 8) some very short, others more substantial. The characters are excessive, lovable, sympathetic or repelling, comic or depressing ...It is sometimes quite realistic, sometimes more fantastic or surrealistic, but we can find a little bit of ourself in those situations or characters.The acting is OK, and Dujardin Lellouche are excellent.A good time to spend, not necessarily with a square, except if you want to help him loosen up.