Playing by Heart

Playing by Heart is a 1998 American comedy drama film, which tells the story of several seemingly unconnected characters. It was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.[4] It stars Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Connery, Anthony Edwards, Angelina Jolie, Jay Mohr, Ryan Phillippe, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, Jon Stewart and Madeleine Stowe. Playing by Heart is an ensemble work, that explores the path of love in its character's lives.

Playing by Heart
Directed byWillard Carroll
Produced byWillard Carroll
Meg Liberman
Screenplay byWillard Carroll
Starring
Music byJohn Barry
Christopher Young[1]
CinematographyVilmos Zsigmond
Edited byPietro Scalia
Production
company
Distributed byMiramax Films
Release date
  • December 18, 1998 (1998-12-18)
Running time
121 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$14-20 million[2][3]
Box office$3,970,078[3]

Plot

Among the characters are an older couple, whom about to renew their wedding vows (Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands); a theatre director (Gillian Anderson) and architect (Jon Stewart) navigating a new beginning; a gay man dying of AIDS (Jay Mohr) and his mother (Ellen Burstyn) who had not been close; a couple having an affair (Anthony Edwards and Madeleine Stowe) and her husband (Dennis Quaid) who is exploring ways to break through the staleness of their marriage.

As the stories evolve, the connections between the characters become evident.

Cast

Kellie Waymire, Nastassja Kinski, Alec Mapa, Amanda Peet and Michael Emerson also have roles in the film. Hilary Duff has a small part in the movie as one of the characters' children, although her part is uncredited.[5]

Production

According to director Willard Carroll the film was made on a budget of $14 million as the cast led by Sean Connery agreed to work for $50,000. Carroll praised Connery saying he "continued his total democratic cooperation in the ensemble piece. He was the most generous actor, although he’s a larger-than-life star" and that Connery set the example the others followed.[2]

In some regions, the film was released under the title Intermedia. The original US title was Dancing About Architecture, a reference to a line in the film (based on a quote from Lou Reed regarding "writing about music") that the idea of "talking about love" is equivalent to "dancing about architecture".[6] A second working title, If Only They Knew, made it as far as the top label for some copies of the soundtrack CD. Executive producers include Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein, for Miramax Films.

Jon Stewart's character is an architect, his film home is the Stahl House.[7]

The soundtrack includes songs by Morcheeba, Bonnie Raitt, Bran Van 3000, Edward Kowalczyk of Live, Neneh Cherry and Moby.[8][9]

Reception

The film was released in the United Kingdom on August 6, 1999, and opened on #11.[10]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 60% based on reviews from 53 critics. The site's consensus was: "It's overly talky, but Playing by Heart benefits from witty insights into modern relationships and strong performances from an esteemed cast."[11] On Metacritic the film has a score of 55% based on reviews from 26 critics.[12] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.[13]

Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs down, and 2.5 out of 4 in his print review, due to its entertaining dialogue, star power and charming moments, but determines it to be a 'near miss' because of its soft, gooey center.[14] It was one of the last films reviewed on air, by film critic Gene Siskel, on Siskel and Ebert at the Movies, before his death on February 20, 1999. Like Ebert, Siskel gave it a thumbs down, deeming the film more about behaviour than story.[15]

Jolie won an award for "Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actress" from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, and writer/director Willard Carroll was nominated for an award at the Berlin International Film Festival.[16]

References
  1. Stephan Eicke (16 July 2019). The Struggle Behind the Soundtrack: Inside the Discordant New World of Film Scoring. McFarland. p. 104. ISBN 978-1476676319.
  2. Archerd, Army (15 January 1999). "Spelling set for busy millennium". Variety (magazine). Carroll and Liberman confirm "Playing By Heart" for Miramax came in for $14 million thanks to the cast’s agreement to work for $50,000 — led by Sean Connery.
  3. "Playing by Heart". Box Office Mojo.
  4. "Berlinale: 1999 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  5. "Hilary Duff's Top 10 Movies, Ranked From Best To Worst By IMDb Score". ScreenRant. 11 April 2020.
  6. Mark Caro (January 22, 1999). "WRITING ONLY SKIN DEEP IN 'PLAYING BY HEART'". ChicagoTribune.com.
  7. Martino, Alison (18 May 2015). "We Grew Up in Case Study House #22 Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine.
  8. "Playing By Heart". Capitol. 1999.
  9. "Playing by Heart - Original Soundtrack | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  10. "UK Weekend Box Office 6th August 1999 - 8th August 1999". www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  11. "Playing by Heart (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  12. "Playing by Heart". Metacritic. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  13. "PLAYING BY HEART (1998) B+". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  14. Ebert, Roger (January 22, 1999). "Playing by Heart". Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  15. Gene's last show 23 January 1999. Siskel&Ebert.org. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  16. "Playing by Heart (1998) Awards". IMDb.
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