Playing Dirty

Andersen (Burning Up) skillfully plays romantic tension along the love%E2%80%93hate and professional%E2%80%93unprofessional axes when filmmaker Cade Galliari tries for a second chance at Ava Spencer, the "fat girl" he humiliated in high school by sleeping with her on a bet. Now Ava is a curvy bombshell and part-owner of a mansion that Cade wants to do a documentary on. Cade hires her for the production team and then attempts to escalate their reconnection. Andersen may intend her hefty heroine to be empowering, but her complimentary descriptions of Ava's appearance are almost apologetic, and too much of the story focuses on body image issues, as though that's all big women ever think about. Nevertheless, the conflict between Ava's never-faded attraction to Cade and her unwillingness to trust him this time, coupled with both characters' competitive mean streaks, makes a powerful driver for this story. (Aug.)