Steineded How sad is this?

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

slightlymad22 Continuing my plan to watch every Sean Connery movie in order, I come to Playing By Heart (1998)Plot In A Paragraph: A bunch of people dealing with their relationships in L.A.This movie has an all star cast. And that's about it. I can see why this failed to find an audience. It has far too many characters that you don't spend enough time with any of them to really invest in them.Some you don't care about at all, others you do, but it's mainly because of the actors playing them. I think my favourite couple in the movie was Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillipe. And I can't stand that woman, so it says something. Playing By Heart tanked at the box office (I doubt it was ever intended as a blockbuster) grossing only $3 million at the domestic box office.

tieman64 Essentially a series of short films, "Playing By Heart" revolves around the love lives of a handful of wealthy, white, articulate, middle class men and women (blame Woody Allen), all of whom are connected in some way. Upon release, "Playing by Heart" was one of many "Short Cuts"/"Pulp Fiction"/John Sayles knock-offs. Today, such "inter-connected" romantic comedies are even more routine, many released annually by big studios. The film's cinematographer was the legendary Vilmos Zsigmond, who bathes the film in shadows, romantic lights and the muted glow of multicolored bulbs.Many of the film's subplots or "short films" are mediocre, except one which finds actress Gillian Anderson and actor Jon Stewart as a cute, likable couple. Actress Angelina Jolie, who plays an emotionally naked punk chick, and actor Dennis Quaid, who plays a lonely bar crawler, are also mildly watchable. The film relies heavily on its actors to elevate its poor, contrived material. It ends, as such films do, with a wedding. Some audiences may find the film vomit inducing.7/10 – IMDb demographics state that women of all ages rate this film much higher than men, except women over the age of 45. Are the jaded 40s the age at which chick flicks stop working on chick flick audiences?

leslieann-1 Angelina Jolie is good (although she seems older than her boyfriend in the film), and Dennis Quaid nearly walks away with it too - they give the most nuanced performances, i'd say, with a script that skims over the surface of necessity, since there are so many vignettes, not giving anything enough time to develop.the scene when the theatrical director throws her new boyfriend out because she is projecting trouble ahead felt very real - it is a playing out of an instinct that some of us may know, and there are true sparks of humor between them, and it's sexier than any other physical relationship going on - but the drawn-out scenario of some of the others just did not ring true or matter: the older couple are not focussing on what's really troubling them and fill up the time with discussion of an old love affair - totally tedious! and the actors worked hard to make it real. the relationship between the mother and her AIDs afflicted son was well played out - but i felt they had to rush to get it in - but it was affecting and well played, well written. (it felt like stage dialogue which ordinarily i do not like in a film).middling worthwhile to watch in the end, (although i liked the scene of Trent in bed with a huge dog). altogether not very gripping - surprising that so many great actors were in it, and that the film received so much attention.

cshep What can only be described as a total fabrication, Playing By Heart is as phony as a 3 dollar bill... Playing pretentiously on the Heart strings of its viewers, this mishmash of junk reeks with phoniness, and a surface skimming attempt of depth ...Wasted efforts by Sean Connery, and others, tries to explore different age levels of relationships, not excluding, Jon Stewart and Gillian Anderson, how it that for Science Fiction !!!Seeing Jon Stewarts "SENSITIVE" side makes you want to Puke, HEAVYILY ! Not to mention bedroom scenes, makes "Cabin Boy " performance look Oscar worthy... All in all, a complete waste of 121 minutes of your life, this film compares on the same level as Dan Akroyd's "Nothing But Trouble !" , another get your money back film !!!So, if you have a soft spot in your heart, and not your head, avoid this movie at all costs !!! It gets a 1, because they don't have negative numbers !!!