George Dryer (Gerard Butler) has retired* from international soccer and moves to Virginia to try to re-connect with his son and ex-wife, Stacie (Jessica Biel), who is engaged* to another man.

    He becomes the coach* of his son’s team, which improves his relationship with the boy (Noah Lomax).

    Unexpectedly, the soccer moms — who include Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Judy Greer — find him attractive and start flirting with* him to spice up* their boring* lives.

    Dryer enjoys relationships with the women, but they become a distraction* to his primary goals.

    If this were a romantic comedy of the 1930s, all the secondary characters would be much more richly developed to do justice to* the talents of the actors. Nowadays, however, everything is built around stars, and the supporting actors flounder*. With a cast* as good as this one, that’s a shame.

    Italian director Gabriele Muccino has a gift for finding depth in actors not always known for subtlety*. He drew winning performances from Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “Seven Pounds,” and he does equally skillful work with Butler in this movie. Technical credits are solid. The score is a bit soupy*, befitting this well-meaning but not very interesting portrayal of middle-aged chaos.

    (SD-Agencies)