A Heart failure (Playing By Heart (DVD))

Member Name: vikil

Product:	Playing By Heart (DVD)
Date:	21/07/00 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good actors.

Disadvantages: All totally wasted.

This is yet another of the ever more popular ‘jigsaw’ movies there several seemingly unrelated stories come together at the end through the links between the different characters or some common concept. Jigsaws obviously can be very difficult to put together, and so for every ‘Short Cuts’ there are ten ambitious projects which end up being released straight to video.

Playing by Heart received the latter treatment and justly so. Even the stellar cast couldn’t save the god-awful script. When characters manage to say phrases like “I have a secret to tell you, I am good at taking directions.” or “It would be hard not to show my love physically, but we will cope”, with straight faces, you just now that you have landed in a deep shit.

The stories, not that it really matters, follow three women in search of love and a young man dying of AIDS (all eventually connected to each over in a mind bogglingly stupid ending scene). Credible and esteemed actors like Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands and Madeleine Stowe straggle through idiotic story lines and embarrassing dialogs, trying desperately to keep face.

There are only two rays of light in all this mess. The first is Dennis Quaid, excellent as always, (I am waiting sine the late 80s to see at least one decent movie with him in it, but unfortunately this is not it) who spends most of the film chatting up lonely women in bars with different tragic versions of his life (at the end we receive the stupidest explanation for his strange pastime, but it doesn’t make it less entertaining). The other is the revelation, which is Angelina Jolie. I must confess, I have never seen her on screen before, but now I understand what all the fuss was about. She is an absolute excess of everything: huge eyes, lips, boobs and talent. Every moment with her on the screen is a little celebration with fireworks. I can see her getting a bundle of Oscars as long as sh
e is given at least half a decent script. Here she courageously struggles through lines, which make you teeth ache, but at least she is making them entertaining.


So… unless you are an obsessive fan of any of the stars, do yourself a favour and stay well away from this mess.

Summary: