Playing by Heart
- Director: Willard Carroll
- Writer: Willard Carroll
- Producer: Kurt Albrecht; Kacy Andrews
CGiii Comment
Few films can boast a cast such as this...does it pay off? It certainly does.
This is a tender, beautifully crafted film with subtle, sublime performances.
The only problem is that Willard Carroll has done few other adult projects.
Watch this twice to get the full impact - it has an emotion that will permeate and dissolve you into a sobbing mess.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
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.
Cast & Characters
Angelina Jolie as Joan;
Sean Connery as Paul;
Gena Rowlands as Hannah;
Gillian Anderson as Meredith;
Madeleine Stowe as Gracie;
Ryan Phillippe as Keenan;
Dennis Quaid as Hugh;
Christian Mills as Phillip;
Kellie Waymire as Jane;
April Grace as Valery;
Anthony Edwards as Roger;
Ellen Burstyn as Mildred;
Jay Mohr as Mark;
Tim Halligan as Cook Show Director;
Michael Emerson as Bosco