La carte du coeur

How did a movie like this ever even get made? "Playing By Heart" has a myriad of notable actors meandering through painfully sluggish dialogue as they define, discuss and detail their individual relationships, ad-nauseum .

Writer-Director Willard Carroll must know where a body is buried in Hollywood, as it is the only explanation for this mess to ever get poured into a motion picture camera. The film jumps between one unrelated story to the other, giving no time for characters or plot to develop. To ensure that the viewer stays completely frustrated, many of the characters develop in directions that are never re-addressed by the film, leading the viewer down several of these meaningless dead-ends. We get to follow Dennis Quaide as he plays out invented characters in a seemingly endless string of bars, all in the name of his acting class. Beware of those who want to pin this film as Sean Connery's best role. Rent "The Untouchables" if you have any doubt. Despite a noble effort by Connery and others, the dialogue and overall sloppy directing will make the viewer hard-pressed to find any real teeth in the characters. "Playing By Heart" is a complete disappointment. It is neither romantic nor insightful. It is plentiful in mediocrity.

When I checked this one out on IMDb before watching it I was firstly surprised by the cast: how do you get all those well-known actors in a film which seemed very unprepossessing and might be considered a `sleeper', made by a practically unknown director? Apart from a couple of films in the late 80s and a number of films for video with perfectly unappetising titles, Willard Carroll did not seem to be a promise living up to the great cast he assembled for this film.

How wrong can you be! An excellent drama with real life issues is presented in a more live theatre style than the heart-tugging overplayed resources of more banal cinema productions. I mean, what bad luck that such a pretentious over-hyped `American Beauty' (qv) for instance, receives an avalanche of undeserved accolades, while this little gem just passes by, relatively unknown. In `Playing by Heart' you have a natural well played-out series of events without any of the overladen bombastics so frequent in American cinema. Excellent interpretations here – among the best I have seen of Sean Connery, and Gena Rowlands is his perfect counterpart. Full marks for interpretation to Gillian Anderson, Jay Mohr, Dennis Quaid, Ellyn Burstyn just wonderful, as is Madeleine Stowe, and Ryan Phillipe; and it is the first film in which Angelina Jolie is not appearing only to show off her indisputable charms, as she is wont, but to play her first really convincing rôle without flashing unnecessarily her anatomy all over the place.

So, evidently, full marks to Willard for piecing together all these elements to bring out what is indeed a very enjoyable surprise. Most certainly a film to see again. My only quibble is that perhaps the last ten minutes or so did not quite live up to expectations: however I would not say that this factor spoils any of the impressions made during the rest of the film.

My vote is a little higher than the IMDb User Rating.

I was quite impressed with the entire presentation of the film. The characters were well developed, individual, and full of potential and humanity. The relationships were actual and realistic, a wonderful break from the Fantasy of Sleepless in Seattle (or You've Got Mail, pick the title you want). The presentation of people with problems and realistic responses to these problems and the people who are affected by these problems really makes this movie more than a past-time; it is a gift, showing us what we are and what we can become with some work and maybe a small paradigm shift.

Everyone did a wonderful job of presenting real people, Sean Connery found a role which allowed him to be his age but not loose that which he is loved for: sinful good looks and flawless composure. Gillian Anderson was so good that by the end I had almost stopped waiting for Molder to arrive. But for me Angelina Jolie was the centerpiece, as she showed the greatest degree of development and growth, epitomizing the struggle that each person was going through.

To me, the plot was a lot more complicated than just the feelings that develop from watching the movie, and the depth of perception is honestly presented in the comments of the other reviewers; most seem to have watched the movie with so much intensity that they got up 35 minutes into it to go and tell the popcorn boy to give them a new bag because they had specifically asked for NO butter. This movie is cognitive to the degree it is affective. It takes one relationship and divides it up into several stages (seen as the family members' relationships), and in doing so it allows us to see relational development in ways we normally can't, just as we repeatedly see the time of day change against the buildings.

It is funny, it is romantic, but it is true. And I am thankful for its gift of sight: into life, into death.

When I first came across this movie I was somewhat unconvinced by the blurb given on the back of the DVD. However, I decided to give it a chance any way (mostly due to the excellent ensemble cast) and I found that I was completely surprised - this movie was positively charming ! Granted, it is not without its slightly exaggerated moments but in the end this does nothing but add to its charm ! Angelina Jolie's character, Joan is delightful if somewhat melodramatic and Gillian Anderson does a great job as the relationship-shy Meredith enraptured with, yet afraid to commit to, the charismatic Trent. Sean Connery's performance is effortless and the rest of the cast are all excellent as well. There are light moments and completely heart-breaking moments but all in all - it ends on such a high note of hope that one cannot help but be delighted !

Definitely worth your time - 9/10

Sean Connery leads an all star cast in an extraordinary yet odd film. I didn't really understand this film until I reached the end and then all the pieces fell into place. I had to see it twice to really grasp what the plot was all about.

The story followed four different couples; married, engaged, dating and cheating. Gillian Anderson and Jon Stewart literally bumped into each other and are about to venture out on a first date.

Angelina Jolie is crazy for a guy she met at the club (Ryan Phillipe), Anthony Edwards and Madeline Stowe are cheating on their respective spouses. This makes for an interesting viewing and ending, which was a complete twist, and a pleasant shock. "Playing By Heart" has a lot of complex story lines that really works.

This was a film of epic proportions and showed what it had to take to maintain relationships and what love really is and what it will do if people truly love their spouses. I was impressed with everyone's performance; however, I must point out the most outstanding one, which was by Angelina Jolie. Jolie has finally come out from her father's shadow and created one heck of a resume of films that includes "Gia" and "The Bone Collector" among others.

I highly recommend this film to everyone.