April 15

…like dancing about architecture

Playing By Heart

I probably should not be writing about another, more so an old, movie, not a lot of people know about.

But there’s something about this little treasure of a film that merits mention even 10 years after its limited release. Playing by Heart, originally titled Dancing About Architecture, is a movie I’ve long been wanting to see ever since I have become an X-Files fan. Gillian Anderson’s in it, yes, joining an impressive list of big-name stars – Angelina Jolie, Ryan Philippe, Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Dennis Quaid, Madeleine Stowe, Ellen Burstyn, Jay Mohr, Anthony Edwards, and John Stewart.

Its premise is simple – finding, losing, and holding on to love. Eleven seemingly unrelated characters deal with relationship problems, among which an elderly couple who began arguing about an affair that could’ve happened 25 years ago; an adulterous affair brought about by souring marriages; a socially awkward workaholic who thinks dating is “calculated artificiality ,” after marrying a man who turned out to be gay; and two Gen-X clubbers who amazingly have vocabularies of literature majors.

Angelina Jolie shines in this film, when she was a relative unknown. I don’t know if John Stewart has starred in any other movie but he was surprisingly good, and charming, as Gillian Anderson’s suitor here. Here’s one conversation involving Gillian’s character, one that I’ve had several times in my own life:

Friend: You’re a wonderful person. You should have someone in your life. That’s all I’m saying.

Meredith: I can still be a wonderful person and not have anybody in my life. Look, I’m just not interested in a relationship right now.

Friend: You are such a liar.

Meredith: I am such a liar.

I guess that says it all. But if I can quote one line that represents what the entire film is saying, it will be one from the elders:

…the wonderful thing about falling in love is that you learn everything about that person, and so quickly; and if it’s true love, then you start to see yourself through their eyes…and it brings out the best in you…and it’s almost as if you’re falling in love with yourself.


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