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Playing Mona Lisa (2000) More at IMDb Pro »

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Well-written and played out girl flick..., 20 April 2001

Author: dwpollar from Shoreline, Washington

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.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Enjoyable film with great cast, 6 September 2001

Author: hprill from Austria

"Playing Mona Lisa" is about the crucial point in your life when you're not any longer sure which direction you're heading. After graduation from music college, Claire, a gifted pianist, slightly loses it when her long-time boyfriend leaves her, her house is damaged in an earthquake and she has to move in with her slightly neurotic parents.

The movie, while having many refreshingly comic moments, is also quite serious in its theme, and deals remarkably well with Claire's attempts to get a new grip on her life. The plot-line is not too strong and is drifting along rather than developing; I don't see this as a problem, though, as it pretty much reflects both real life and Claire's lost sense of direction. Even in its darker moments, the movie retains an overall optimistic mood and never turns into a heavy problem movie; if you're looking for quick laughs or lots of action, however, this movie is not for you.

Lots of good acting from a great cast of characters. Alicia Witt is thoroughly enjoyable as Claire and guides her character remarkably through good times, bad times and mood swings. Brooke Langton and Johnny Galecki play along nicely as her very likeable friends. Great performances (as usual) from Elliot Gould as Claire's father and Harvey Fierstein as her piano teacher.

An overall quiet, but thoroughly enjoyable film which starts slowly and seriously grows on you after a while. 8/10.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
NICE WAY TO KILL AN HOUR AND A HALF, 29 June 2003

Author: moviedude1 from Minneapolis, MN, USA

I used to run a video store and this movie rarely got rented. It came on cable this afternoon and I didn't have anything else to do. I found the beginning of the film slow and rather predictable, but, as it got further into the story, I actually found myself hanging on the story, curious as to what could POSSIBLY happen next. I now find myself wondering why it never got rented in the store, because this was REALLY a good movie. I keep guessing if it was a romantic movie trying to be funny or a comedy trying to be romantic. The blend of both is what I actually enjoyed most about the film.

I have only seen one other movies with Alicia Witt, but I think I'm going to be looking for more of her. Elliott Gould and Marlo Thomas are a nice blend as her parents, too.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
After Splat, 8 January 2003
Author: tedg (tedg@FilmsFolded.com) from Virginia Beach

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Spoilers herein.

There's double reflection here: two dimensions where the matter of the film reflects its manner.

The first is in the plot itself. Alicia Witt is an actress with a lot of the basic stuff that creates a career. She is better looking than the current crop of blondies, with enough acting talent to qualify. If Kate Hudson can garner attention, this woman should. Plus, she really does have mastery of one performing area -- the piano -- something that subsumes all of theater except mugging. This puts her far ahead ofthe pack by default.

She is in fact a woman in constant audition. `Is this the film that will make my career?' we know she is thinking throughout the production. Oddly, what she lacks is not talent or appeal, it is sheer commitment. Kirsten Dunst had it in `Vampire' and `Little Women.' Gwyneth in `Emma,' Reese in `Freeway.' Alicia herself had it with her hypnotizing appearance in `Dune.'

(She also was the fulcrum around which the entire cosmology of "Liebestraum" revolves.)

But just like her character, she goes all the way to the threshold and then stops. There are problems with the direction of this film, but you can see that she does only what the meek director asked of her. She doesn't overfill the role as a committed actress would. This film ends with us not knowing if she wins the competition (or alas, without even hearing her play). She may wake up and win the race to starlethood at some time to come.

There is one scene where she IS spellbinding, and predictably it involves her playing. She is practicing an amazing complex piece and talking to Fierstein at the same time. It reminded me of a scene in `Autumn Sonata' where two characters were similarly staged with one playing. Her playing has a comic tinge just as her lines do.

The second reflection concerns the director. This happens a lot: a film whose moral is one thing and the manner of presentation uses exactly the opposite philosophy. This idea, then play was born to be wild screwball. The Jewish chorus was supposed to be artificial, like the family in `The Big Hit.' The parties were supposed to be mythic, like `200 Cigarettes,' the friend Sabrina was supposed to be fantastic like Holly Golightly. The shifting affairs and deceits were supposed to be Shakespearean decorative comedy.

There's enough raw material here to make two comedies at least at the level of `Big Fat Wedding.' But it requires an edgy director. While making a film about commitment to the passion of the thing, he forgets to have passion himself.

Oh well, see it as prelude to Alicia's breakthrough. She'll get up after going splat. At least we hope so.

(Don't watch it for any of the familiar actors that appear. They are all as flat as they are told to be. There is an execrable `adults'-take-LSD-by-mistake bit.)

Ted's evaluation: 3 of 4 -- Worth watching

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Tickling the ivories or tickling the funny bone, this film is zany but fun, 29 May 2007

Author: Amy Adler from Toledo, Ohio

Claire (Alicia Witt) is having one of those months. A skilled pianist, she has failed to gain acceptance into a major piano competition, causing her sorrow. Her teacher and mentor (Harvey Fierstein) is sympathetic. But, then, in short order, her boyfriend dumps her unceremoniously and an earthquake ruins her San Francisco apartment, making it necessary to move back in with the folks. Ah, the family ties that bind and choke! Mother (Marlo Thomas) is trying her hand at cooking and offering unwelcome advice to her stricken daughter. Claire's father (Elliott Gould) is a having a midlife crisis and her overachieving sister is getting set to marry a stiff-shirt dentist, in coral and bisque, no less. As Claire is seeking to pull herself out of the blues, one bright spot emerges. She meets a good-looking fish merchant (Ivan Sergei). Will her life improve? This is one zany film, with a cast of characters and a script as offbeat as they come. Witt is luminous as the gifted pianist who runs into the year from hell. Thomas and Gould are terrific as the crazy parents and the rest of the cast is very nice, especially the gorgeous and charming Sergei. With some nice costumes, scenery, and photography, the film looks good and the San Francisco setting is lovely. Even so, the script is still the big winner here, being imaginative, humorous, and surprising. If you are drawn to romantic comedies with an off-kilter charm or you get tickled watching families much crazier than your own, find this one fast. You will like what you see.

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Worth renting, 18 March 2005

Author: finellithomas from Burbank, California

I saw this movie a couple years ago when I was a videotape operator working the graveyard shift. I was recently reminded of it when I saw it for sale at the checkout line at the grocery store. Weak storyline, funny situations and interesting characters. The only reason to go out of your way to see this flick is that Brooke Langton looks GREAT in it. She looks better in this film than she looked on Melrose Place! Marlo Thomas and Elliot Gould share a funny scene as a middle-aged couple who accidentally take a hit of LSD. By the way, the screenplay is based on a play titled "Two Goldsteins on Acid". Harvey Firestein is great as a love-sick gay man (not a big stretch for him to get into that character!) and the supporting cast does a very good job. Watch it on a rainy Saturday afternoon and you won't be disappointed.

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I had fun, 2 August 2003
Author: Eric Reaume from Illinois

You really can't say that you "had fun" with a movie that often, but this movie actually has a feeling to it. She's scared to do something so she counts on others to help, and we have no idea if she gets what she wanted or not, and that's how i saw feeling with it. The acting is fun also, Alicia Witt is such a great talent I just can't believe she's not a superstar yet. I know and so do other people that there are a lot of other people that are labeled "SUPERSTARS" that really "SUPER-SUCK", and Alicia Witt is not one of them.

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Talented Writer, 17 June 2003
Author: sarahtsaraht from LA

I'm familiar with Marni Freedman's work, and so anticipated "Playing Mona Lisa". The end product does not compare to what Ms. Freedman is capable of, so that is a disappointment. I'm familiar with her writing for both stage and film and she has an uncanny ear for dialogue that is simultaneously funny, real and heart-breaking. Look for her on future projects. She is truly gifted.

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TV sitcom quality chick flick, 5 January 2003

Author: George Parker from Orange County, CA USA

Claire (Witt) is having trouble getting her concert piano career on track thanks to a semi-functional family, romantic woes, and kookie friends. "Playing Mona Lisa" is a formula sitcom quality flick full of cliche characters with just enough of a creative edge to keep me from thumbing the fast-forward button. There's little new here and nothing to get excited about. However, "Playing Mona Lisa" might be worth a look for the couch potato surfing for chick flix. (C)

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Unbelievably trite film, 24 May 2003

Author: FilmOtaku (ssampon@hotmail.com) from Milwaukee, WI

Another case of "should have left it alone". I read the description of the film on digital cable, I saw "classical musician" and "Harvey Fierstein" and decided to give it a shot. I figured if anything, I would get some decent classical music and well, Harvey Fierstein - one of my favorite people in entertainment after seeing "Torch Song Trilogy" 16 years ago.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much all I got out of this film, and in very small doses. Playing Mona Lisa is has a ridiculous premise: A gifted classically trained pianist graduates from the San Francisco Conservatory and is first proposed to after a drunken night, then dumped. She then moves back in with her family, which tries really hard to be quirky but truly fails and is actually irritating. In between spastic situations with her family, she hangs out with her impossibly "cool" friends who hold some pretty outrageously expensive looking parties and then finds a guy to mess around with. (A relationship that goes nowhere, despite the movie's attempts to make it seem like it's all hot and heavy).

Like I said, the only personal saving graces for this movie were the short appearances of classical piano playing (by Alicia Witt herself, which is impressive) and the fabulous Harvey Fierstein. He should be a "relief actor". Anytime a film looks like it's going to fail miserably, bring in Harvey as a pinch actor, and you'll have at least one redeeming factor. It worked for Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day.

--Shelly

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