Playing Mona Lisa (2000)

Director:

Matthew Huffman

Writers (WGA):

Marni Freedman (play)
Marni Freedman (screenplay) ...

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A young pianist is looking for love in all the wrong places once her fiancee drops her. Maybe her flame will be rekindled both for the piano and a new love?

Plot Keywords:

Earthquake | Pianist | Scrabble | Gay Friend | San Francisco California

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Alicia Witt	...	Claire Goldstein
Harvey Fierstein	...	Bennett
Brooke Langton	...	Sabrina
Johnny Galecki	...	Arthur
Ivan Sergei	...	Eddie / Carl / Ben
Marlo Thomas	...	Sheila Goldstein
Elliott Gould	...	Bernie Goldstein
Tammy Townsend	...	Alice
Molly Hagan	...	Jenine Goldstein
Estelle Harris	...	Aunt Velva
Pat Crawford Brown	...	Grandma Ida Weinberg
Zachary Kranzler	...	Jeremy
Joe Mazza	...	Barry / Bo
Sulo Williams	...	Manny
Sandra Bernhard	...	Bibi Carlson

Also Known As:

Two Goldsteins on Acid (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for drug content, sex-related dialogue and brief language.

Runtime:

USA:97 min | Brazil:97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Hayes Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Bubble Factory, The

Goofs:

When Eddie takes Clair to the greenhouse for pizza, you can see a cameraman crouching behind leaves as they enter, even though he says they closed it a long time ago.

Quotes:

Bennett: I once heard someone say: "When you dim your light, so that someone else can shine, the whole world gets darker."

Movie Connections:

References "Baywatch" (1989)

Well-written and played out girl flick...

1st watched 4/21/2001 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Matthew Huffman): Well-written and played out girl flick that is very similar to the very popular TV series "Ally McBeal" in it's theme. A young girl trying to find her man is part of the movie, but it's also about her competing piano talent and how she shuffles her romantics wants or needs with her God-given talent. At times the movie seems confused about the direction it's going which is really not a problem because in real life we're never sure what direction everything is taking. A wide mixture of varied talents are involved in this picture from young(Alicia Witt) to old(Elliot Gould - who actually does one of his best jobs in a hard role as the mixed-up father. Funny, touching, and leaving us a good message as well in the end.