Looks like someone's been watching too many family movies starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Shamelessly aping his former colleague, 13-time WWE World Champion Paul "Triple H" Levesque plays Ray, an ex-con in New Orleans desperate to go legit and win back the love of his tweener daughter (Winter). Standing in his way is former partner-in-crime, Larue (Corrigan), who ropes Ray into another bank robbery---only to hunt him down when Ray reneges and inadvertently ends up with the loot anyway.
Hobbled by contrived situations and atonal acting, The Chaperone is a lazy payday sloppily directed by Hollywood veteran Stephen Herek, whose lively-if-cornball credits (The Mighty Ducks, Mr. Holland's Opus) and occasional off-kilter hits (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) nonetheless suggest that he should know better than to pimp himself out for a crossover-craving pro-wrestler. It's a shame, because Levesque has an easy charm and a genial nature that could serve him well in the right vehicle, and a few moments of kookiness prove that friskier creative minds behind the scenes can prevail against the odds, if only temporarily. But the father-seeking-redemption plotline is beyond tired, and the conceit of kids outwitting bumbling crooks was already hoary two decades ago when Macaulay Culkin famously dispatched no-goodniks without an adult guardian. If only the producers of this somnambulant slice of kiddie-demo hokum had been blessed with more parental supervision.
Watch the trailer