“Corny” Players hits Netflix with woeful Rotten Tomatoes score

Players, a new rom-com starring Lucifer’s Tom Ellis, has just arrived on Netflix – unfortunately, it has a pretty low Rotten Tomatoes score.

Some romantic comedies garner critical acclaim; for example, Rye Lane, The Big Sick, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Palm Springs, Crazy Rich Asians, and When Harry Met Sally all have scores of above 90%.

However, for a genre with beloved classics in its canon, it’s also guilty of producing total trash from time to time, like Good Luck Chuck, Gigli (“gobble gobble”), and All About Steve, all of which were near-unanimously branded as turkeys upon their release.

Sadly, Netflix’s latest rom-com may fall somewhere in the middle: not appalling, but certainly not worth your time, if the reviews and reactions are anything to go by.

Players debuts on Netflix with bad Rotten Tomatoes score

Players has a 38% score on Rotten Tomatoes right now. The audience rating isn’t much better: it’s currently sitting at 50%.

The film follows a “New York sportswriter Mack (Gina Rodriguez),” who “has spent years devising successful hook-up ‘plays’ with best friend Adam (Damon Wayans Jr.) and their crew. While it has led to countless one-night stands over the years, following their playbook comes with a strict set of ground rules — chief among them: you can’t build a relationship from a play.

“When Mack unexpectedly falls for her latest target, charming war correspondent Nick (Tom Ellis), she begins to rethink the game entirely. As the lines between work, fun, friendship, and romance begin to blur, Mack must learn what it takes to go from simply scoring to playing for keeps.”

On RogerEbert.com, the review reads: “Rom-coms are now few and far between, and the ones that show up lack charm. You can’t have a rom-com without charm! People still need love stories. They yearn for them. Why have we lost confidence in telling them?”

Variety called it a “dumbed-down, gender-swapped kissing cousin to Hitch” and a “middling and at times mawkish film [that] not only makes us hate the game, but also its players.”

On X/Twitter, one user wrote: “I hated #PlayersNetflix. I could only watch half. It was trying to give New Girl but I was just so corny to me.”

However, some people seem to be enjoying it. “Players, on Netflix, got me right in the feels. A great rom com,” one wrote. “#PlayersNetflix is one of the cutest movies I have seen recently,” a second tweeted. “I know I said I’m not a fan of the friends to lovers trope, but when it’s done well I love it. That new movie Players on Netflix pulled it off perfectly in my opinion,” a third posted.