Customer Reviews

Playing by Heart (Region 2)

5 star:		(125)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

"Playing by Heart" is one of those quaint movies that you might never have heard of. I certainly hadn't until cruising around Amazon one day and following a link for Gillian Anderson. Being interested in seeing her in a role outside of "The X-Files" I ordered this film but for whatever reasons, this DVD sat on the rack until recently. Clearly, after watching this, I should've checked it out sooner.

"Playing by Heart" is hinged upon a star studded cast and a casually paced but well timed and written script that plays very well emotionally. One cannot help but think that as an ensemble cast, the majority, if not all of the stars of this film, took a significant cut in pay for doing this film, in effect, showing their shared affections for the script.

On to this stellar cast, let's see, in alphabetical order; Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Connery, Anthony Edwards, Angelina Jolie, Jay Mohr, Ryan Phillippe, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, Jon Stewart and Madeline Stowe, WOW! As expected, it was extremely wonderful to see Gillian Anderson outside of the "Scully" role and it will be nice to see her in future films. As is usual with Angelina Jolie, she presents an entirely different character in this film and displays perfectly the range of her acting skills. Overall kudos goes to the entire cast for their collective performances in this wonderful film about life.

High praise goes to Willard Carroll for having written and directed this charming and extremely enjoyable film! This movie apparently won high critical acclaim when it was in the theaters, and it now deserves as much acclaim as it can from those that count, movie watchers who enjoy well scripted and performed movies! The score plays perfectly to the film as well.

The Premise:

"Playing by Heart" is an extremely well told story about life, love and the ups and downs that love brings to those that try to embrace it. The movie cuts frequently between several different couples who are either struggling through the difficulties of burgeoning love, middle years of marriage or the older couple looking back upon their lives together.

What follows from there is a movie that leads to a wonderful ending that is unfortunately a bit predictable but doesn't detract from the experience in any way and in fact actually enhances the experience. I highly recommend this film to any and all that are fans of good movies! {ssintrepid}

Special Features:

This DVD is all about the movie itself!

This film is one of the best kept secrets at the video store. Anyone who enjoys a good romantic story must see this movie. This romantic comedy-drama focuses on the relationships of various couples. This could've been just another cute little film, but thanks to the witty, intelligent dialogue and the very talented ensemble cast, it is elevated to so much more. Although some of the story lines were less than compelling, it was great to see veterans actors like Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands take such a modest story line and turn it into something really special. Kudos! Didn't someone say "there are no small roles, only small actors?"

Although all the performances were strong, the stand out performances had to be that of Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillippe. The chemistry between these two young actors was earth shaking. Their screen romance was very touching and endearing. Even though Jolie has the ability to completely dominate a scene, Phillippe, playing his role with subtlety and reserve, was able to hold his own. His performance was so real and moving, that once us men folk can get over the fact that our ladies are swooning over him, we have to admit this dude can act. As for Jolie, I think no one can deny her obvious talent. With this role, like many of her others, she is able to generate so much passion, sensuality, and exuberance. Her larger-than-life persona almost "devours" the film, audience and all. Personally, I enjoyed when Phillippe's character was able to take Jolie's down a couple notches. While I liked the film as a whole, I secretly wanted more screen time for these two actors. Hopefully, soon these two rising stars will be paired again in another picture. Hollywood, you better hop to it while you still can afford them!

Overall, Playing By Heart was a wonderful film with smart dialogue, an excellent cast and a clever ending. This film restored my faith in romance. Well, at least at the movies. If you are not in some small way touched by this picture, I suggest you see your doctor right away. You might not have a pulse!

I don't often shower all the 5 stars in my reviews here at Amazon, but this precious film deserves 6!

An amazing star cast, a theme that will have you guessing until the end how all the entertaining but diverse vignettes are connected, some very mature and intelligent humour, and above all some enchantingly memorable and sincere dialog about life, relationships, love.

Mind you, none of the characters is in a simple straightforward predicament. Angelina Jolie especially pitches in an absolutely stunning performance, although everyone is convincing and memorable in their role.

What a cleverly crafted movie. You know the satisfaction you feel when you've just had a complete meal, that's what I'll bet you'll feel.

Highly recommended absorbing film, for *owning*, not just for seeing once. It's one of those.

When most movies boast of an "all-star cast," what they usually mean is 2, maybe 3 big name actors + a bunch of people you've never heard of. Not so with this film. With the likes of Dennis Quaid, Sean Connery, Madeline Stowe, Gillian Anderson and Angelina Jolie, this one truly lives up to the promise of having a celebrity-filled cast. They could have funded the first manned mission to Mars with the payroll of this movie. Even better, these are all cream-of-the-crop actors, as opposed to being big-name pseudo actors (like Keanu Reeves, for instance).

The story is about 3 sisters (Stowe, Anderson & Jolie), all of whom experience various troubles regarding men. Stowe's character is involved in a passionless marriage; the only way she can feel alive & vibrant is by engaging in a lascivious sexual arrangement with a fellow apartment tenant.

Anderson plays the sister "in the middle" who has been burned by men in her past & is apprehensive and more than a little bit reluctant to "play the field" again.

Jolie's persona, meanwhile, just plain can't seem to find the right guy. She goes thru frequent romances, but never finds a worthwhile partner to hang on to.

In the meantime, their parents are having their own marital troubles. Closing in on their 40th wedding anniversary, they cannot help but summon up ghosts of past lovers.

The tale is presented in a very different way than any other film I have ever seen. We see the characters deal with their individual struggles, then their stories are woven together at the end. This is a fascinating "angle" by which to detail the narrative.

The film is very well done & all of the acting performances, as expected with this ensemble, are impeccable. Jolie, in particular, stands out. The acting job she delivers is magnificent; I become a bigger & bigger fan of her's each movie I see her in. This is one of the best "date" movies I have ever seen; funny, yet emotionally poignant. Sometimes, it's best to play by heart.

This is the movie I always recommend, no matter who asks. My teenaged daughters and their friends have enjoyed as well as my friends and co-workers. I have watched this movie many times and find a little something more each time.

The story appears at first to be a series of unrelated stories that begin and end aburptly, leaping from one set of characters to another randomly. Gradually a pattern begins to emerge and connections begin to appear, some I anticipated but others caught me totally off guard. The various relationships - couples, parent/child, siblings, in-laws - all ring true. These are characters that draw a viewer into their lives.

It would be difficult to say who 'stars' in this film. The cast is packed with well-known actors, Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Connery, Anthony Edwards, Angelina Jolie, Jay Mohr, Ryan Phillippe, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, Jon Stewart and Madeleine Stowe. All give stellar performances but none dominate the movie or distract from the story.

There is no violence, some profanity and sexual situations but nothing graphic or excessive. The only flaw I see in this gem is after having nearly every character in this film repeat the line about "talking about love is like dancing about architecture" why did they change the title from the original 'Dancing About Architecture' to the very forgettable 'Playing By Heart'?

If I could meet a lump collective of famous people, a great place to start would be the cast of Playing By Heart. I don't remember hearing "boo" about this movie. Nada, nuttin, zilch. Every single character is portrayed by a famous actor. And quite well I might add, I really enjoyed the depth brought to each performance.

Playing By Heart is a relationship movie. It's also billed as a romantic comedy on the video jacket. I beg to differ. It's a drama if I've ever seen one. Playing By Heart deals with some very complex relationship issues in a direct, honest manner. The intensity of the relationship formats is engrossing.

The movie is set up in a variety of pairings, not all of which are romantically linked. The relationships that are romantic, represent a wide spectrum of ages, and stages in such a relationship.

We meet Hannah (Gena Rowlands) and Paul (Sean Connery). They've been married forty years. Their relationship is in a state of flux almost from the very start of the movie. Their story is evidence that, even after all those years of marriage, there are things to discover about your spouse. The notion that Paul might still be carrying a torch for an old flame is a bone of contention between he and Hannah. One example of their combativeness is when Paul remarks, "It's been almost twenty-four hours since we traded barbs. We don't want to get rusty do we?"

Then there's Joan (Angelina Jolie) and Keenan (Ryan Phillippe). They are the young, wild twenty-somethings who discover each other in the L.A. club scene. Keenan is withdrawn and anti-social where Joan is boisterous and the poster child for high drama, her every life event intensely scrutinized for anyone who will listen. Joan keeps doing her level best to work her way into Keenan's life while he puts forth the same effort pushing her away. At one point, he finally tells her, "This isn't anything. This will never be anything." Meredith (Gillian Anderson), on the other hand, pushes men away because of a long history of being burned in relationships, or as she puts it, "scalded repeatedly". She is a theatre director who has been keeping herself consumed with work, but when she pulls a bookshelf down on herself at the library, an architect named Trent uses the opportunity to ask her out on a date.

He maintains that, "I'm not just asking you out to dinner as a preemptive strike against litigation." Despite her steadfastness to the contrary, she accepts, saying, "Anyone who can say preemptive strike against litigation with a straight face deserves a dinner companion."

Theirs becomes a rollercoaster relationship of her pushing him away and him not accepting her attempts to shut him out. Meredith makes some interesting observations about the dating process that anyone who is dating or has ever dated may find refreshingly honest. So much of the dating process is calculated artificiality. She even admits to Trent, that before their first date, she had been on the phone with her sister coming up with a psychological profile for him.

Perhaps the most intense relationship in the movie is a mother-son pairing. Mildred (Ellen Burstyn) is the mother to a gay son, Mark (Jay Mohr). He is in the hospital dying of, it is assumed, AIDS. His final wishes are to start their relationship over, being honest with each other and sharing some of their thoughts with each other. She, and the rest of Mark's family, had been in denial about his being gay, and he doesn't want his last days to be full of her denial about his dying. Some powerful and moving scenes between them.

As a mother with sons, the most moving moment was when he asked her to tell him a story. He wants to hear the last part of "Goodnight Moon". My boys have this book. We read it quite often. The thought of speaking those words to one of them as they lay dying in my arms tore through my heart. She also reflects on the time she was pregnant with him. These are instances that all you moms out there will be hard-pressed not to have tears streaming down your cheeks.

Among the other characters are Gracie (Madeleine Stowe) and Roger (Anthony Edwards), who are both married and having an affair. There is also Hugh (Dennis Quaid), who spends his nights going from bar to bar, telling tall tales of woe to any woman who will listen to him. Their relationships are evidence of the understanding one tries to have about what they are doing and why.

Why do some people love each other? How does it happen? Joan considers something a friend had told her once. "Talking about love is like dancing about architecture." She maintains that, however true that statement is, she's still going to try to talk about love anyway. On the flip side, Paul recalls the advice Joan had given their children about falling in love. "The wonderful thing about falling in love is you learn everything about that person and so quickly. And if it's true love, then you start to see yourself through their eyes. And it brings out the best in you. It's almost as if you're falling in love with yourself."

Playing By Heart is honest and genuine. Some of the honesty manifests itself in some big-time swearing and sexual innuendo, hence the "R" rating. It's a drama in the sense that relationships are dramas with light-hearted comedic moments to equal the playing field. It's about falling in love. It's about not wanting to fall in love but falling in love anyway.

This is a cute little piece of loosely-tied vignettes that give several of today's hot actors the chance to actually ACT (not one car chase, alien abduction or plot to destroy the world in evidence). We receive insight into the lives and phobias of three sisters (Anderson, Jolie, Stowe) for the few days leading up to their parents' (Connery, Rowlands) anniversary marriage vow renewal. Ryan Phillippe, Dennis Quaid and Jon Stewart really steal the show as the love interests. Phillippe and Jolie are believable and sweet as a twenty-something couple with some pretty large issues making the L.A. club scene while Anderson and Stewart are good as thirty-something professionals trying to get through the scar tissue created by past romantic disasters. Quaid, however gives the best performance when he sets out to prove to himself that he's not the boring, unimaginative husband Stowe thinks him to be. Jay Mohr and Ellen Burstyn also shine in a wonderfully poignant subplot involving a mother-son relationship. It was especially nice to see Mohr in a softer role - I recall all of his previous characters as selfish, crude S.O.B.s. This movie reminds me of the days before special effects where the story was the star.

This is a warm and touching movie. Often when movies try to tell multiple stories at once it's just confusing but this works so well. Give "heart" a chance.

It is rare that I award five stars in any review, but Playing By Heart is a rare type of film. Pulp Fiction-like in storytelling, the movie is composed of a puzzle-piece plot of various stories that come together beautifully in the end. This movie subverts a lot of cinematic standards. The story line is not linear, the characters are not your typical theatrical cookie-cutter cut-outs, and the message of the film is topical and revelatory.

If that doesn't sell you, check out this cast:

-Angelina Jolie at her finest, and this beauty is fine on an off day. -Gillian Anderson in her best role to date (mind you, I have yet to see House of Mirth). -Ellen Burnstyn and Jay Moore in roles so powerful that you will want to immediately call your parents or children and tell them how much you love them. -Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands...need I say more. What a handsome couple they make in this film too. -Ryan Phillipe easily giving his most emotional and powerful role to date.

-John Stuart proving he can act his way to bigger and better things than The Daily Show. -Dennis Quaid in the role that will keep you guessing the most. -...and last but not least: Anthony Edwards and Madeline Stowe. I was never a huge fan of Stowe, but she was amazing in this film.

I give you listing of the cast only to emphasize how brilliant this movie is. I have no idea why it got minimal press when it was released in theaters, but don't let this film pass you up! It was easily the best film I've seen in years. An amalgam of heart, acting, and storytelling at its best. Brilliant!

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.