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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Miramax
Salesrank: 13064
Released: August 17, 1999 |
| Our Price: $8.71 |
| Used Price: $2.11 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A sexy, romantic comedy about modern couples coming together in funny and unexpected ways, PLAYING BY HEART features an amazing cast of hot stars! Paul (Sean Connery -- FINDING FORRESTER) and Hannah (Gena Rowlands -- THE MIGHTY) discover that even after 40 years of marriage, they can still learn some very surprising things about each other! Meredith (Gillian Anderson -- THE X-FILES) is a serious theatre director who isn't looking for a relationship ... but has one looking for her in the person of the funny, persistent Trent (Jon Stewart -- JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK)! Then there's Joan (Angelina Jolie -- TOMB RAIDER) and Keenan (Ryan Phillippe -- GOSFORD PARK), young people searching for love in an L.A. club scene where the rules of dating seem to change every night! A witty, charming motion picture that critics loved -- you, too, will fall for this seductive treat!
Description of Playing By Heart:
This amiably amorphous comedy-drama about a myriad of articulate and witty people pondering the meaning of love was originally titled Dancing About Architecture. As one of the lovelorn puts it, in trying to explain the elusive nature of desire, "Talking about love is like dancing about architecture." However, with the way the characters in Willard Carroll's film talk, it sounds like they could dance a samba around Frank Lloyd Wright. This undiscovered gem doesn't have a particular destination in mind, as it weaves in and out of the stories of its high-profile ensemble, but it does offer some hilarious, sharp dialogue and quiet surprises. Carroll focuses his film on four couples, all in one way or another battling with the problems of relationships, ranging from long-marrieds (Gena Rowlands and Sean Connery) to Gen-X club-hoppers (Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillippe). Ostensibly, part of the film is invested in the mystery of how all these characters are interrelated, but keen viewers will be able to discern the connections among everyone. It's the uniformly excellent performances, though, that make Playing by Heart compulsively watchable. Most striking, surprisingly enough, are Jolie and Phillippe, the youngest members of the cast who reveal heretofore hidden depths of talent. Jolie in particular increases her already-soaring stock as an actress. Equally impressive are Gillian Anderson and Jon Stewart, who transcend their yuppie personas in their awkward enactment of the timeless dating rituals. Other cast members, including Dennis Quaid, Anthony Edwards, Ellen Burstyn, Jay Mohr, and the always luminous Madeleine Stowe, are quite good, though saddled with story lines that are occasionally less than compelling. The only complaint you'll have is that once everyone's connections are revealed, you'll wish this cast had more of an opportunity to interact. The journey toward the film's bittersweet end, however, is marvelous in and of itself. --Mark Englehart
Playing By Heart Reviews:
Under Rates Movie 
2009-11-19 - this movie went straight to video and it was my sister who directed me towards the movie. It is very funny even when the mood gets serious
Pretentious drivel 
2009-09-27 - Truly one of the worst screenplays I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. My wife & I cringed our way through the entire movie. The dialog was clearly written by someone with a desperate attachment to his thesaurus. As a previous commenter noted, RUN, do not walk, away from this pitiful excuse of a movie. Not even worth it to see a very healthy looking Jay Mohr pretending to be a dying AIDS patient.
Talking about love is like dancing about architecture
2009-07-19 - As soon as I heard the opening, voice-over monologue from Joan (Angelina Jolie), Playing by Heart had me. I knew it would be interesting, but I also saw the trap the writer/director/producer (Willard Carroll) had set for himself. I wanted to shout through the screen and warn him -- if only so at the conclusion I could have the schadenfreud of saying 'I told you so.' Because Willard Carroll, who has many more credits as a producer than he has as a writer or director, was making the rookie mistake of being too clever. Like one of his characters, Meredith (Gillian Anderson), a theater director, who when given a compliment that someone liked her play has to ask: "Before or after I deconstructed it?"
Let's take a moment to deconstruct that opening monologue. First, Joan name drops Chet Baker, and this shows that she is very sophisticated, to appreciate Chet Baker. Even to know who Chet Baker is colors me impressed. But would she be the kind of person who appreciates Chet Baker for purely superficial reasons; like his movie star good looks that led photographer Bruce Weber to become a fan and make a documentary called Let's Get Lost that dwelled on Chet's Matinee Idol looks; and paired him with Chris Isaak, though their music was apples and oranges, merely because they both made photogenic models? Or would Joan be the kind of jazz fan who loved Chet for his beautiful sound and lyricism, even if years of drugs had taken their toll on his looks, and a drug dealer had smashed his teeth in, forcing him to adjust his embouchure to allow for playing with dentures?
Besides name dropping Chet Baker, which could be either a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether Joan was sincere or merely a poseur, she quoted a line that I have always admired, or at least a paraphrase of it. The musician who played like Chet Baker was supposed to have said, when Joan wanted to talk about how his solo made her feel, that talking about music was like dancing about architecture. Or talking about love, also like dancing about architecture. I know this quote, actually it says that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, but the problem is, her friend, the Chet Bakeresque trumpeter, is not the person who made up this quote. I thought that Elvis Costello had said this, and he did say it in an interview in 1983, but when asked about it later, he didn't remember saying it, but thought he had heard Martin Mull say it. It is also attributed to Steve Martin, Frank Zappa, and Laurie Anderson. Even Frank Lloyd Wright is supposed to have said it, but that seems Frank Lloyd Wrong, because, being an architect, he would have seen no contradiction in dancing about architecture. Willard Carroll was so enamored of the simile that the original title of Playing by Heart was going to be Dancing about Architecture. But Willard Carroll, the producer, wisely decided that it would be too clever, much to the chagrin of Willard Carroll, the writer, and also Willard Carroll, the director.
Playing By Heart shows various couples, seemingly unrelated, but all in various stages and phases of love. Joan (played to perfection by a young Angelina Jolie) is the kind of woman who talks too loud on the phone, yelling the intimate details of her life even louder to be heard over the din of the L.A. nightclub she is in. Keenan (Ryan Phillippe) is a keen observer. He doesn't say much, but you can tell that he doesn't miss a thing. He sees right through Joan, but keeps his own cards close to the vest. But it seems like to an extrovert like Joan, Eau D'Indifference is the most irresistible cologne of all. As she tells her sister afterwards, once again talking too loud into her phone:
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Joan: The lad doesn't say much and when he does, he finds just the right words to crush my soul.
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Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillippe look like they would make a very cute couple, but here I have to say that they are both acting up a storm. Their good looks are like masks actors put on to portray characters. This film is pre-Oscar for Girl, Interrupted, and really shows great potential for Jolie. I would almost say that she is acting better here than in GI. Phillippe is an excellent foil for her. He is understated, while she chews up the scenery and spits it out. The more he holds back, the more you wonder: what is his deep dark secret?
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Joan: [to waitress] I'll have a vodka martini, very dry, straight up. three olives, and... my sullen friend here will have...
Keenan: A Coke.
Joan: The poster boy for designated drivers will have a *Coke.*
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Paul (Sean Connery) and Hannah (Gena Rowlands) are also going through a rough patch, but the month is December rather than May. They banter like an old married couple, because they are an old married couple.
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Paul: Don't look at me with that tone of voice.
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Paul corrects Hannah's grammar. At one point she says she wouldn't feel any different, and he says 'differently.' Remember that distinction, because there is a small though subtle pay off later, in what passes for a running gag among the chronically clever. A lot of Playing By Heart concerns how we show our love by paying attention to the minute details of what is said by our loved ones, even if we correct their grammar:
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Paul: You're overwrought.
Hannah: I'm perfectly wrought. Given the circumstances, I'm even a little underwrought.
Paul: There's no such word.
Hannah: There is now.
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The cleverest couple, and the character who lets her cleverness sabotage her happiness the most, would have to be Meredith (Gillian Anderson) and Trent (Jon Stewart). Meredith is, of course, if you have been paying attention, the play director. This is how her version of 'meet cute' plays out:
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Trent: You know I'm not just asking you to dinner as a pre-emptive strike against litigation. I'm asking because...
Meredith: I'll have dinner with you.
Trent: What changed your mind?
Meredith: Anyone who can say 'preemptive strike against litigation' with a straight face deserves a dinner companion.
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Trent is a match for Meredith in the clever department, but at least he doesn't take himself or his own cleverness too seriously. Just as in Jon Stewart's real life gig, as the anchor of The Daily Show, Trent knows the importance of humor:
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Meredith: Wow.
Trent: Yeah I know, the flowers are a little much, but I'm late. But only because I had second thoughts about the flowers and threw them away halfway down the block. Then had third thoughts and went back and got them.
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Sometimes though, in love and life, it is best to go with your first inspiration. The first thought, let alone the second or third. There is such a thing as over-thinking, Meredith. That is what Trent is trying to tell you, though he does it in a self-mocking way. I think he likes you.
While Meredith and Keenan seem to resist falling in love and getting in a relationship with Trent and Joan, respectively, Gracie (Madeleine Stowe) and Roger (Anthony Edwards) just want a physical relationship without any emotional baggage. They are both married, but not to each other. Madeleine Stowe steals the show with her passionate performance. She, not the guy, is the one who pushes for the no strings set up. Anthony Edwards will be familiar to those who have seen ER in the early seasons, where he played a doctor. He is a different kind of professional here, but I wouldn't dream of spoiling the surprise by telling on him. By the way, there is a clever reference to the spoiler of all spoilers in this movie, so if you still don't know what Citizen Kane means when he says "Rosebud" you had better watch that one first.
Another mystery is just who is Hugh (Dennis Quaid). He keeps turning up and telling people harrowing tales, and you really start to believe his sob stories, but the problem is he tells everyone a different story. If he is a con man, then what is he after? He never seems to get anything out of it. At one point he claims to be a TV exec in charge or ABC's Thursday Night Line-up. His wife is shacked up with the guy who is in charge of NBC's. Oh, the bitter irony, when he gets fired. The lawyer who is hearing his tale of woe is played by none other than Nastassja Kinski. But he passes up her offer of 'coffee.' What gives?
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Hugh: I'm better at all these lies I've manufactured than I am at the ones I'm living.
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Another sub plot involves a mother and son. Paul (Jay Mohr), the son, is dying of AIDS, and is using his last days to finally get straight, so to speak, with his mother, Mildred (Ellen Burstyn). Meanwhile, the movie keeps cutting back and forth from Hugh, Mark and Mildred, and the different couples.
Back to Trent and Meredith:
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Meredith: Well, That doesn't take long does it?
Trent: What doesn't?
Meredith: I mean, you turn a guy down a-and WHAM. he just metamorphoses into an anger ball.
Trent: An 'Anger ball'?
Meredith: See.
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By the time the third woman has thrown out an 'anger ball' epitaph at her man, like it was the phrase that pays in a radio contest, you begin to suspect something. Just who are these sisters talking to? Who are the sisters they are talking to? Is it all relative? Stay tuned.
The final scene is where all the cleverness takes its toll. What kills it for me is the sound track. They are all at an event with live music, it is actually supposed to be the jazz band that Joan dug. The trumpet player is the guy who said the line about dancing about architecture. But the music is smooth jazz mixed with an orchestral score, all obviously dubbed in. Jonathan Demme in Rachel Getting Married used lots of musicians playing live. It was well integrated into the scene, the only thing you could complain about was perhaps they had too many musicians. It is so fake in Playing By Heart, and the whole effect is ruined. Another example of jazz music being used in a film, but in a good way, would be Mo' Better Blues. I'm not saying that the music in Playing By Heart was bad, just that in this scene, where everything was riding on its integrity, it was fake, not the music that the band was playing. They had Chris Botti writing some tunes and playing trumpet, and actually had two composers scoring the soundtrack -- one was scrapped for some reason. There were a couple of Chet Baker recordings used for some scenes. But in the final crucial scene, when all the chips were down, writer/director/producer Willard Carroll choked.
Still, I am giving this 4 stars for all the clever dialogue, and the stellar cast who really delivered their lines as if they had thought them all up themselves.
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Meredith: I'll tell you what I don't want. I don't want all this calculated artificiality. This dress, these stupid little bows in my hair, they aren't me. I mean, look at you. You - you don't sit around your house in an Armani suit, do you?
Trent: No. My house is black-tie.
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Smart People (2008) .... Dennis Quaid was Professor Lawrence Wetherhold
Crash (Widescreen Edition) (2004) (as Ryan Phillipe) .... Ryan Phillippe was Officer Tom Hansen
Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) .... Angelina Jolie was Sara 'Sway' Wayland
Finding Forrester (2000) .... Sean Connery was William Forrester
Girl, Interrupted (1999) .... Angelina Jolie was Lisa Rowe
Cruel Intentions (1999) .... Ryan Phillippe was Sebastian Valmont
Bad Girls (Extended Cut) (1994) .... Madeleine Stowe was Cody Zamora
Postcards from the Edge (1990) .... Dennis Quaid was Jack Faulkner
Woman Under the Influence - Criterion Collection (1974) .... Gena Rowlands was Mabel Longhetti
Goldfinger (1964) .... Sean Connery was James Bond
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Keenan: That's the ugliest cat I've ever seen.
Joan: She's an angel.
Keenan: She only has one eye.
Joan: Yeah, but it's her good one.
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Playing By Heart 
2009-02-13 - Just as many that enjoy this movie are appalled by the mindless action movies, most women and men will be put to sleep by this movie. Excellent cast and directing will not endear it to those that feel impromtu chatty movies are for women and men with with a lack of self assurance. Well that or psychiatrist interested in getting your hard earned money by having you visit regularly. I have the same issue with doctors that just want to check things out all the time. I appreciate those concerned enough to want to discuss things, but to me this is no more entertainment than the mindless action movies. And quite honestly they are easier to sit through. I couldn't watch all of this because as much as I like the stars in it, it was like going to a weekend talk session with a high school counselor. Now if I was depressed for some reason or unsure of myself, I could go for that. So unless you are, you may find this movie a bit overly dramatic yet not realistic. Good quality DVD with good replayability for people that enjoy talky movies. If you enjoyed this catch "200 Cigarrettes" or "Sidewalks of NY".
CA Luster
IT'S ONLY ME, BUT:
2008-06-01 - THIS MOVIE IS ABOUT 4 MODERN COUPLES COMING TOGETHER AND ABOUT HOW THEY CONNECT AND HOW THEY ARE CONNECTED. ANGELINA JOLIE GIVES A PREFORMANCE THAT SHOWS SIGNS OF HER GREATNESS IN ACTING. JM
