Hilarious and Spontaneous
Jessica | Santa Barbara, CA United States | 05/25/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
""Playing Mona Lisa" is the story of a talented musician whose family is completly wacked out and whose personal life is even more so. Alicia Witt, who actually plays the piano pieces on and off-screen, plays the character tremendously. What a talented young woman! The rest of the cast, including Ivan Sergei, Brooke Langton, Johnny Galecki, Elliot Gould, and Marlo Thomas, add a wonderful humorous touch, each fitting his or her part flawlessly. One of my favorite characters from Seinfeld is present; George's mother, playing her typical hilarious obnoxious self. Perfect! I have read a few critics' reviews of this movie, and I think that some are a bit too harsh. This is not an Oscar-worthy movie, so why treat it as one? Sit back and have fun, laugh at the ridiculous antics and play along with the at-times-unplausible yet intriguing story line. Bravo to the cast and crew for creating an uplifting, airy tale of life, love, music, and growing up."
Amusing Movie, Crappy DVD
neilathotep | San Mateo, CA United States | 07/18/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is the kind of DVD that makes me quite sad. Basically, the only advantage you have over the VHS version is that it is widescreen. Other than that, it really doesn't have any features, so the price seems a bit high.The movie itself, however, is pretty amusing. Claire Goldstein(Alicia Witt) is a recent graduate in the field of fine arts -piano playing to be exact (which is appropriate since Witt plays the piano quite well in real life). When her boyfriend proposes to her, she is on the top of the world... and then falls all the way down when it turns out he was drunk and forgets all about it. Will her family and friends be able to bring her back up?Some of the relatively minor characters are great, such as Estelle Harris, aka Estelle Costanza as Aunt Velva, and Elliot Gould and Marlo Thomas as Claire's parents. Overall, I'd say that this movie is more of a rental fare, unless your sure you'll watch it 8 or 9 times, given that there is no extended content on the disc."
This is one of my favorite all time movies!
Shanna | Saint Louis | 04/11/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I saw this movie on the Independent Film Channel on Direct TV just a few weeks ago and I must tell you that it is exellently writen and produced! It's a funny, emotionally moving film. It doesn't move too slow, had a wonderful cast and the cinematography/lighting/sound track perfectly fit the scenes and moods that the director wanted. I was totally impressed. I'm ordering 3 copies so I can give them to my closest friends. The story really speaks to women who have been in relationships that didn't work out or that had some rocky patches, and reminds us of the independance and self reliance that we each have within ourselves. It's really motivating!"