Playing by Heart (1998)

Eleven articulate people work through affairs of the heart in L.A.

Director:

Willard Carroll

Writer:

Willard Carroll

Stars:

Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Connery

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Angelina Jolie	...	Joan
Dennis Quaid	...	Hugh
April Grace	...	Valery
Patricia Clarkson	...	Allison
Gena Rowlands	...	Hannah
Sean Connery	...	Paul
Gillian Anderson	...	Meredith
Christian Mills	...	Phillip
Kellie Waymire	...	Jane
Madeleine Stowe	...	Gracie
Anthony Edwards	...	Roger
Ellen Burstyn	...	Mildred
Jay Mohr	...	Mark
Tim Halligan	...	Cook Show Director
Michael Emerson	...	Bosco

Storyline

Eleven articulate people work through affairs of the heart in L.A. Paul produces Hannah's TV cooking show, and they must move beyond gentle barbs when she wants to know about an affair of his years ago. Mark is dying of AIDS, and his mother comes to his bedside: they must talk truthfully. Men have scalded Meredith so she rebuffs Trent's charm, but he persists. The trendy, prolix Joan tries to pull the solitary Keenan into her orbit: why is he reluctant? An adulterous couple meet at hotels for evening sex, but she is unwilling for the relationship to grow. Hugh tells tall tales, usually tragic, to women in bars. By the week's end, their parallel stories converge.

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Plot Keywords:

tv cooking show | dying | sex | cooking | bar | 

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Taglines:

If romance is a mystery, there's only one way to figure it out.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

22 January 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

If They Only Knew

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$26,669, 3 January 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,956,212, 21 February 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hyperion Pictures, Intermedia Films, Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Duchovny, Anderson's X-Files co-star, also starred in a movie with Angelina Jolie where the first word in the title was "Playing". (Playing God)

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Goofs

Although Joan's cat is called Blanche and is consistently referred to as "she", the actual animal is a male (tomcat).

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Quotes

Keenan: This may sound corny, but... you don't want me. I'm damaged goods.
Joan: So? We're all damaged goods.

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Crazy Credits

The opening scenes introducing the major characters list their character names with subtitles, but not the actors/actresses who are portraying them.

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Alternate Versions

Trailer includes scenes of sexual encounter between Anthony Edwards and Madeline Stowe.

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Connections

Referenced in Game k n b?: Episode dated 28 November 2006 (2006)

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Soundtracks

Friction
(1998)
Written by Paul Godfrey, Ross Godfrey and Skye Edwards
Performed by Morcheeba
Courtesy of Rhino Records, Inc./Sire Records Group
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

A very enjoyable surprise

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.