In rom-com land, people get into all kinds of trouble pretending to be something they’re not. They try on new personalities. They speak in weird accents. They plot and plan and connive. Sometimes these tropes work. Tony Curtis pretending he’s a millionaire in “Some Like It Hot” in order to attract Marilyn Monroe. Classic. There’s a reason these tropes are used so often. They work. But when it’s empty, or when the main characters don’t generate audience sympathy, these tropes fall apart. “Players,” written by Whit Anderson and directed by Trish Sie, struggles with the inherent artificiality of its setup. The tropes are so front and center that real life barely has any room to breathe.
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