Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Film!
Review: Playing by Heart is both honest and simple. It is simply to the heart. From the beginning, when Angelina Jolie("Gone in Sixty Seconds")declares "Talking about love is like dancing about architecture," the movie is interesting. The story is told from the view of two married couples, two new and developing relationships, one marriage and affair, and a mother and son. Sean Connery("The Rock")and Gena Rowlands("The Mighty")play Hannah and Paul, a couple who have been married for forty years, but are struck with recent marriage problems. Thier performances are top-notch and you can really feel it through the grating lookes and sharp movements, but also the tenderness that they bring to thier parts. Gillian Anderson("The X-Files") is Meredith, a serious theater director who is not on the prowl for a new relationship. But, she can't help falling in love with Trent(Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show", "The Faculty"), a funny and persistant architect. Gillian Anderson and Jon Stewart bring a great attractivness to thier parts. Their chemistry is obvious and thier performances highly believable. Angelina Jolie("Playing God") and Ryan Phillipe("I Know What You Did Last Summer") are Joan and Keenan, two young people in search of love in LA clubs. Thier relationship is rawly honest and is a great example of how opposites attract best. Keenan is quiet and prefers to dance alone, while Joan walks with her heart on her sleeve and beloves a cat with one eye. Jolie and Phillipe turn in great performances, and truly add something to the movie. Anthony Edwards("E.R")plays a priest who is having an affair with Gracie(Ellen Burstyn), who is married to Russle Crowe. Crowe is constantly on the LA bar scene, debuting a new tragedy each night. Of the three, I would have to say Crowe's performance was best, his daily scenarios new, fresh and believable each time we see him. Though, Burstyn's performance is also fresh and origional. Madeline Stowe and Jay Mohr also play a mother an son facing AIDS. The story is touching and blunty real. The performances are air tight and, like the rest, perfect. Playing by Heart remains on my favorite movie list, and I'm sure it will for quite some time. Hat's off to the cast and crew for a great movie and all around treat. I would recommend seeing it, as you will not be dissappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Sweet and heart-warming . . .
Review: This unique film about love and circumstance is a light but powerful film with an all-star cast.Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files"), Angelina Jolie ("Girl, Interrupted," "Gone in 60 Seconds"), and Madeleine Stowe ("12 Monkeys," "The Last of the Mohicans") star as three sisters with completely different lives and personalities. Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands ("The Mighty") play their parents. The film also contains a hilarious performance by Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," and great performances by Ryan Phillipe ("The Way of the Gun," "Cruel Intentions") and Dennis Quaid ("Frequency," "Inner Space"). "Playing by Heart" is a real treat, and I don't even like romantic comedies. But this is more of a story of chance and fate than anything else, with some really interesting characters and touching revelations. A real winner, in my opinion. The DVD itself is pretty plain, but that's okay. I bought it for the movie, not for special features.
Rating: 
Summary: Cute Movie
Review: So many love stories, so little time. I've never seen a movie quite like this. It's very cute and not too corny (but it kind of IS). My favorite storyline is Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillipe's. They had good chemistry and Phillipe can hold ground when Jolie is present. Gillian Anderson and Jon Stewart are cute in this movie too. Jay Mohr's story is so sad though. What I dislike is (I don't wanna give away any hints of the ending) how attatched some couples become of each other in such short time. Told you it was kind of corny.
Rating: 
Summary: It's definately on my wish list
Review: I rented this video on a whim one night, and have since been searching for a copy of the video to own. I thought that all of the performances in this movie were excellent, and as others have mentioned, Jolie was excellent. I was also pleased to see Gillian Anderson playing different sort of character than we are used to from her. Sean Connery was touching in his role. It was nice to see such a variety of actors collaberate on such a great plot. I recommend this movie verrrrrry much, even (maybe especially) to anyone who isn't a large fan of romance. This movie would appeal to viewers of any age, for it's characters come from different generations as well as every walk of life. SEE IT! (You won't regret it!)
Rating:
Summary: A lovely, entertaining film
Review: This is the story of 3 sisters, their parents, and their trials and tribulations through love, death, adultery, relationships and the like. The performances are all good, though my favorite sidebar followed Angelina Jolie (definitely the standout here) and Ryan Phillipe dealing with more baggage than a holiday at JFK and their struggle to form a relationship. Cool soundtrack. The pieces fit like a puzzle, and while it is slightly detached and disjointed at the beginning where you are trying to figure out what connects all these stories together, it's one of those movies where for lack of a better phrase "gets better as it goes along..." A definite chick flick, but I watched this with my brother and even he enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: A Mostly Overlooked Gem
Review: As has been noted previously, the original title of this movie was DANCING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE. The title was changed because it was felt that the title was too weird and confusing for prospective moviegoers. Perhaps that's true. However, I think calling the movie PLAYING BY HEART also worked against the movie but for the opposite reason: It's such a generic name that it could be about anything. It saddens me that this movie didn't get more attention because it's one of my all-time favorites. The plot isn't anything ground breaking, but there are so many good performances that I'm surprised the VCR or DVD player doesn't explode. Although everyone in the movie is good, the standout is Angelina Jolie. This is the movie that made me fall in love with her. Her performance as the damaged club kid had me laughing and crying at the same time. Although Ellen Burstyn had one of the smaller roles, I thought she also did a superb job. So see this movie. There is truly something for everyone in it.
Rating:
Summary: You need to see this movie
Review: This is truly one of the most enjoyable movies I have ever seen. The way in which all the story lines come together in a subtle yet sensical manner, the characters, the humor and the music, especially the music, are what make this film a true delight to watch. Not only is it beautiful, both the characters and the backdrops, but it's the type of movie where you don't wince when someone says something cheesy. Everything just seems to work, everyone works well with each other. Angelina Jolie, for all her weirdness and brotherly love, is truly one of the best actresses I've seen in a long time. I switched between wanting to be her (to feeling) insanely jealous of her for the entire movie. See this film, and buy the soundtrack.
Rating:
Summary: An Underseen Film with an Undeniably Great Cast
Review: Playing By Heart is one of those little movies that you find at the video store by accident and are so glad you did. I remember seeing the previews for it, and laughing out loud at the scenes between Gillian Anderson, the heavenly Jon Stewart, and a big dog, who commenced to share the bed with Stewart. The film had those laughs, and much more. It is not a deep film, or a great classic, but it is a fun little romantic comedy about how to find love and how to make it last. If for no other reason, you should see it for the actors. Where else can you find such a talented cast raging in age from late teens to mid-60's, from former James Bonds, to Angelina Jolie, to one of the ER docs, to Dana Scully herself? (I have to say it was mighty funny to see Gillian Anderson acting nerdy and awkward. She's usually so confident, and half of America is in love with her! But she did great.) The actors all do a nice job with this film. You get the impression that it was their treat film they made for themselves for fun, in between other projects. You can tell they loved working together. Ryan Phillipe and Angelina Jolie both do wondrously as a hip young couple (he has blue hair, she has pink hair!) in an emotionally charged on-again, off-again relationship. Jay Mohr gives a solid and realistic performance as a terminally ill man coming to terms with his illness with the help of his mother. I think this part of the film reminds us that life is short, and that love is the most important thing, and that we shouldn't take either for granted. Madeleine Stowe is good as the lonely housewife who is bonking a pastor (Anthony Edwards). Dennis Quaid, as her husband, does a nice job, shall we say, "acting out." Gena Rowlands is, as always, touching and elegant, and her hubby, Sean Connery, is cute as a button. They look so good together, I'm surprised they're not actually married! This film is a great pick-me-up film. A probable chick flick, but I know guys who've liked it a lot.
Rating:
Summary: The movie is a gem! The DVD version of the movie is not!
Review: I found the movie to be a real find and worth watching several times over. All of the acting was superb and I loved how the individual stories eventually were tied together for a very moving and surprising ending. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! NOW!:Be forewarned tho, that the DVD version of the movie is very, very poor in image quality - fuzzy, grainy, with the images breaking up into blocks. I had two copies come to me and had them both returned with identical problems. Miramax appears to have had a bad transfer or the original master damaged. The videocassette version is of better visual quality (which is a contradiction unto itself when compared to DVD!).
Rating:
Summary: Playing By Heart--2 Thumbs UP!
Review: I think this movie was fantastic. During the movie you dont really know how the characters are related until the end. The movie takes you into about 8 different peoples lives and you get to learn about their lives and their thoughts of love and life. I also think that each person/couple have some flaw or problem with love. Take Meredith for example, she doesnt trust men..for those reasons that she lists in the movie. And Joan cant seem to find anyone who understands her or actually loves her. This is a great movie and I think everyone should see it!
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