Critic Reviews

• Lael Loewenstein, Variety

  Carroll's characters spend so much time talking, albeit intelligently, that the connections they make seem peculiarly synthetic.

• Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

  This charming romantic comedy with a Los Angeles setting cuts between seemingly unconnected miniplots the way some Robert Altman movies do.

• Derek Adams, Time Out

  All of these characters are more interesting when things are going badly for them than when the tide has turned, and Carroll's determination to make the final reel an extended bout of audience tummy tickling is disappointingly conventional.

• Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

  If Playing by Heart is the kind of film that used to be known as a "woman's picture," it certainly provides more emotional nourishment than most other mainstream movies generate these days.

• Stephen Holden, New York Times

  For all its artificiality, Playing by Heart percolates with an earnest charm.

• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  [It's] n tune with the current trend toward movies that coddle the audience with reassuring sentiments.

• Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

  A very slight and inoffensive movie. It's a lot like L.A. itself, all surface, soothing and warm.

• Ron Wells, Film Threat

  The brightest spot belongs to Angelina Jolie, who is so compelling to watch she has chemistry with the furniture.

• Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews

  Playing By Heart tries hard and sometimes succeeds -- and Jolie is terrific.

• Dragan Antulov, rec.arts.movies.reviews

  Nothing more than merely watchable film.

• Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks

  The dozen or so lead characters of Playing By Heart fear silence the way Biblical people feared locusts.

• Shannon J. Harvey, Sunday Times (Australia)

  An underrated, dreamy drama about love, lust and infidelity amongst inter-connected Los Angeleans. Jolie rises to the challenge.

• John R. McEwen, Film Quips Online

  The lack of time gives the last reel a fakey, tied-up-with-a-bow feeling, but good performances and a good script make this an enjoyable little romance.

• Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer

  An intriguing patchwork of relationships converges into a portrait of modern love in Playing By Heart, a wry, satisfying emotional saga.

• Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium

  A heavily mixed bag; high points come with Jon Stewart's sweet courtship of Gillian Anderson and a brilliant turn from a young unknown named Angelina Jolie.

• Francesca Dinglasan, Boxoffice Magazine

  The script's overall artifice, combined with a convenient burst of "I love yous" and an all-too-obvious surprise ending, work to undermine an otherwise interesting concept.

• , Boston Phoenix

  Willard Carroll's cleverly interconnected (sometimes annoyingly so) tale of six different relationships is populated by a horde of big-name stars...

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  A well-scripted ensemble drama about eleven people in Los Angeles searching for love.

Read all 18 critic reviews