Rating: 
Summary: don't pass this one over in the video store...
Review: The most accurate way I can think of to describe this widely ignored gem is that it's like a full season of a pretty decent television drama whittled down to two hours - and even that sounds far more pejorative than the compliment it's meant to be. The snappy dialogue and interactions are given life and dramatic weight by a universally solid cast (even the actors portraying characters in the weaker story lines are excellent) - that quality alone makes this movie most enjoyable, but the way the director and cinematographer manage to give the film's L.A. setting a truly lush, romantic polish also merits a viewing.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Romantic Drama
Review: PLAYING BY HEART is a character-driven drama about the sometimes funny (sometimes painful) and always complex ways love can touch your life (and your heart). Set in Los Angeles, the film weaves in and out of the lives of a group of eleven people of varied generations and lifestyles, all of whom are experiencing love in one of its many maddening stages. Some people are finding it, some are rediscovering it, and others are losing it. What they have in common is an intense desire to express how love makes them feel. The film weaves in and out of these stories with no paricular destination, but it offers some honest, crisp, and funny dialogue, not to mention more than a few surprises. The film focuses on a series of couples (and all those somehow connected with them), who are in one way or another battling relationship problems. There is the long married couple (Gena Rowlands and Sean Connery) dealing with the pains of a past affair that may or may not have happeed, the Gen-X club-hoppers (Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillippe) who may or may not want a relationship, the divorcee (Gillian Anderson) unable to commit to a new love (Jon Stewart), the married woman (Madeleine Stowe) having an affair with the married man (Anthony Edwards), the heartbroken mother(Ellen Burstyn) whose gay son (Jay Mohr) is dying of AIDS, and of course, the man (Dennis Quaid) who frequents bars to lie to women. The biggest mystery is how these characters are interrelated, but when it is finally revealed, it seems all too predictable . But who cares--it is the unbelievably excellent performances that make Playing by Heart such a wonderful film to watch. The cast has amazing chemistry, and all but carry the film on their shoulders. From start to finish, Playing By Heart is a wonderful, clever, and moving picture--an undiscovered gem that deserves an audience.
Rating:
Summary: You'd never know it
Review: I loved this movie. I had to buy it so I can show all of my friends who never heard a word about it. There is one actor in it who isn't a raving star (some black woman you always see with Randy Quaid's character) and she only has a few lines. I think they spent so much on the talent, they didn't have enough money left to market it and we all missed out. The plot is excellent (twists and turns, some that will leave you sobbing, some laughing- all of which easily identified in your own life) and the most amazing thing is, it all works. Perfectly. It all fits together and you end the movie just the way you started.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't be an anger ball!
Review: "Playing by Heart" is a series of vignettes showing different aspects, as well as different kinds, of relationships. The range is from 40 years of marriage to just meeting someone. Although these are seemingly different sketches, the whole is related. About half-way through the movie, key words will appear, which will tip you off that all is part of the one story, or topic, relationships. I had not been a fan of Angelina Jolie until this movie. With the exception of Connery and Rowland, her performance was the most believable. Most of the other performances, especially John Stewart's and Gillian Anderson's, did not seem inspired. It is a little disappointing, but it does not hurt the movie. My judgment of their performance may be skewed since I have preconceived ideas of how they act. For Anderson, I can't help thinking of Dana Scully, and for Stewart, I am reminded of his comedy. Not a bad movie, but the movie tips its hand a couple of times. I was not surprised by the ending because I knew what would happen before it got there (with the exception of Anthony Edwards' character).
Rating:
Summary: Touching, simply touching
Review: A tapestry of great performances and clever writing that will make you cry rather you want to or not.
Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing for Angelina Jolie
Review: In half a dozen subplots, 11 people live through the drama of their relationships and lives in Los Angelos. The subplots seem independent, but come together in the end. Although her screen time is no more than anyone else in the cast, Ms. Jolie makes the movie. She plays a young, club-going type girl who starts a relationship with a young man who is HIV positive. Her acting left a very strong impression on me. In real life she is the daughter of the actor Jon Voight. She is only in her mid-twenties and has made 25+ major motion pictures (check out Girl, Interrrupted). I don't necessarily like her personally, and a woman friend of mine thinks she has had more cosmetic surgery than Frankenstein (check her out in Lara Croft, Tomb Raider). However, I predict she will win an Academy Award someday.
Rating:
Summary: A true work of art
Review: First off, Angelina glows here but besides that, this movie spells out the extraordinary dynamics of all human relationships and makes one think of the fraility of it all. Definitly a film for romantics as well jazz lovers. Well worth the time and space on your shelf.
Rating:
Summary: How to find the love of your life- or regenerate it
Review: Think of a web of very differnt people, all living in the same town, all searching for love ... Share their hopes, their dreams and fears and learn to worship life more and more with every minute of that brilliant movie.
A firework of emotions, humor and romance, but also a portrait of reality, pleasant sides and also sad ones.
A surprising but fitting mixture of great actors like Gillian Anderson, Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie add to the high quality of the movie.
Watch this one with your love or some of your friends - and find at least a peace of all of them in one of the characters.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic mix of various flavours
Review: The cover of this DVD makes this movie seem like some all time comedy. It is however a movie of all sorts of emotions we see in daily life. The rich cast is just too much for a movie lover to handle and each of them have performed FANTASTIC roles. I initially picked this movie for Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie and Gillian Anderson. After watching the movie, I felt like the entire cast, the director, producer and the story writer... each deserve their own credits. Some one liners made me laugh and some scenes just made me want to pause the movie and shed a tear or two. Just see it for yourself. Telling you or describing any part of the movie is to spoil your moment of SHEER ENTERTAINMENT. Dont dont (and I repeat dont) miss this movie if you have a chance to see it.
Rating:
Summary: Little known movie is a gem
Review: Miramax, the premiere producer and distributor of independent films in the world, gave Playing by Heart a limited and uninspired theatrical release in January 1999. They sold it as a comedy. It's actually a drama. Perhaps Miramax was too busy promoting its hugely successful Oscar contenders, Shakespeare in Love and Life is Beautiful. Whatever the case, don't let the fact that you may not have heard of Playing by Heart deter you. It's a fine movie and a welcome alternative to the cartoonish megahits we were offered this summer. Essentially, the film is a study of how people handle the powerful emotion called love. The couples we meet range from the very young to the old. As we watch these people deal with affairs of the heart, it is slowly revealed to us that each of them is somehow involved with everyone else. I won't tell you how. Leading the fantastic cast are Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands, who play Paul and Hannah, a couple on the eve of their fortieth wedding anniversary. Amidst the joy, a new problem and an old one threaten to ruin the occasion. Hugh and Gracie [Dennis Quaid and Madeline Stowe] have been married fourteen years. They have forgotten how to love one another. Meredith [Gillian Anderson] is the bitter victim of a marriage that failed for reasons neither she nor her ex-husband could prevent. She has adopted the hard edge of a person who believes that love will never work for her. When she meets Roger [Anthony Edwards], the attraction is there, but her acquired defense mechanisms make the relationship seem doomed. When young actress, Joan [Angelina Jolie], spies Keenan [Ryan Philippe] in a hot disco, she falls for the kid. Keenan has a major broken heart, and Joan has her work cut out for her. Finally, Mildred [Ellen Burstyn] must reach out to her estranged son, Mark [Jay Mohr], who is dying of AIDS. I think Miramax decided to call this a comedy because director Willard Carroll delivered a sophisticated movie. You cannot have a film devoted to the subject of love without having scenes where hankies are required. He shows these moments without dwelling on them. He quickly moves on to the next event. And he does find a lot of humor in the frustrations and the self-doubts that come with love. I had a couple of problems with Playing by Heart, but both of them were fairly minor. The subject matter is one more commonly associated with French and Italian movies. It is not one we Americans are incapable of doing well, but often, as here, we put so many stars in the vehicle that it gets overwhelmed. Happily, the ones in Playing From the Heart are generally excellent actors. The movie also suffers a bit from being too well constructed and written. The result is that several of the couples are interesting enough to fill a whole picture on their own, and we feel a bit cheated that we saw so little of them. Despite these little flaws, it remains one of the best and most original romantic movies of late. There is such a wide age range in these love stories that one or more is bound to affect you. My personal favorite was the young couple, Keenan and Joan. They seemed such a perfect fit. Angelina Jolie is a consummate actress, and she may have inspired Ryan Philippe to give his best performance to date.
|
