 Playing By Heart (1998) Now without me launching into yet another inspired tirade against Lou Reed, I shall simply get back on track and say it's too bad the movie has such a bland title, because it obscures the fact that this is one of the smartest, warmest, and most genuinely enjoyable films I've seen in quite some time. I was taken very much by surprise because the film involves a lot of things I normally hate in a film—twenty- and thirty-somethings relentlessly verbalizing their thoughts on love and dating, people falling in love glamorously, people analyzing their actions as if in a screenplay—but it makes everything ring true in a very believable way. Even more refreshing was the overall tone of optimism, which was not a "Hollywood" sort of optimism in the sense of false resolution, but rather a genuine outlook of optimism posited by the characters in a way that is not at all forced. I haven't seen many movies that have attempted to investigate themes of love without trying to advance an agenda that seems independent from the motivations of the characters. Virtually everything that happens in Playing By Heart is honest, and even the cinematic conventions that are used seem purposeful. This is one of maybe three movies I've seen in the theater in the last ten months or so that I recommend with great enthusiasm—not that it's the best fuckin' movie ever made (as Crimedog once said immediately after seeing Chaplin) but it is a hugely enjoyable movie that will do the rare feat of warming your soul without finger-fucking your intelligence. Structurally, Playing By Heart might be said to be the comedy version of Robert Altman's Short Cuts, to which it owes some debt of influence, but only in terms of the way the plot lines are inter-cut and woven together. The movie follows four couples (Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillipe; Gillian Anderson and Jon Stewart; Madeline Stowe and Anthony Edwards; Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands), one weird loner (Dennis Quaid) and a mother/son relationship (Ellen Burstyn and Jay Mohr), each with various levels and meanings of love, each unrelated to the other until the film's final scene, which ties them together in a satisfying way. Director Willard Carroll takes pains to keep the connections a surprise, needlessly, since several of the connections are obvious before the film is half over. Still, even if some of the "surprises" aren't surprising, they are still satisfying and real, bolstered by incredible performances all around. Standouts are Jolie in an incredible performance as a talkative tough girl who is only looking for true love, and, unexpectedly, Jon Stewart as a "too good to be true" architect with romantic designs on Gillian Anderson (as the "I been burned, be gentle" character). Jolie is utterly fantastic in that "star making" kind of role you hear so much about, showing a huge range of emotion and a total star-caliber charisma. Stewart, who I am growing to like more and more in spite of his early career association with MTV, is hilariously witty and charming, although that's pretty much his whole repertoire. Still, he works it very well here. Other great performances are given by Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands as a long-married couple bickering through the eve of their 40th anniversary, and Ryan Phillippe as a tough-kid-with-a-huge-wall-of-defenses. It's great to see Connery in a film where he doesn't have to play a warlock or something. As just a regular person, he's still an obvious star, but without having to jump over a train or hijack a rickshaw. Gillian Anderson turns in a good performance in an unlikable role, while Stowe and Edwards are decent in secondary roles as two married people having an extramarital affair. Quaid is good as a man who isn't what he says he is (to anyone), and it's one more good thing about this film that it made me not mind Quaid, Stowe, or Edwards, none of whom I particularly like. The weakest performance is given by Jay Mohr, miscast in a clichéd role as a son dying of AIDS coming to terms with his mother on his deathbed. Burstyn is fine in her equally clichéd role as the mother, but the whole set-up is a bit tired and doesn't add much to the film. The most powerful plots are the tough kids' (Jolie and Phillippe, both, by the way, almost scarily attractive people, I should like to have it on with each of them) and the old couple's (Connery and Rowlands, I'll only fuck the former, thanks anyway). The actors all do a great job of investing the dialogue with realism and personality, keeping a lot of the more difficult lines from coming off like something from Metropolitan or some such bullshitzenpisser. Without revealing anything about the carefully constructed plotlines, I can only say that Playing By Heart is a totally worthwhile experience that left even this very jaded movie watcher heartwarmed and thoughtprovoked. It was a delightful film, probably something of a sleeper, and should be seen by all of you. Not everything is great about it, and the music in particular hasn't been handled well—such as a scene where Jolie and Phillippe go to her apartment where mood music is playing in the background even though they've only just entered the apartment (some of the soundtrack's songs are poorly chosen, too—especially an unfortunate duet between Ed Kowalcyk and Neneh Cherry). But more of it is great than most films are just good. The more I think about this movie the more I'm glad I saw it and want to see it again. I should say, I did miss the first few minutes. If the movie opens with footage of Hitler molesting a child or something, forgive the glowing review.
Review by Dude |