Playing Mona Lisa (2000)

I don't laugh out loud that often at films, but this film had me doing that several times. Yes, some of the situations were absolutely ridiculous like Marlo Thomas and Elliot Gould doing LSD.At the center of it all is Alicia Witt as Claire. Witt has to do a number of different kinds of things in this part and she manages to keep it all together pretty well. And I read that she even plays her own piano, some of which is material typically done by concert pianists. In those scenes, she does an entertaining job. But she also has to do silly, and a little crazy, and depressed, and love sick like a 13 year old. But she also does seriously dealing with the future of her life. I love Witt when she does strange faces, and she gets a couple of chances to do that here. One slight negative - this wiry redhead doesn't look or sound a bit Jewish, while most of the rest of the family is definitely so.Fierstein does a passable job as her mentor. But Thomas and Gould are totally one-dimensional and at times cliché as are the actors playing her sister and girlfriends, and for that matter her family.In craziness such as this movie, it is easy to look too closely and forget that sometimes even the cliché parents on LSD can get a laugh or two if you just let yourself enjoy it.

The movie itself is what it is. A tolerable, at times engaging chick-flick with good writing and a good balance of storylines.As someone who's played piano most of my life, I usually roll my eyes at Hollywood's depiction of performing pianists. Usually, the pianist sways one way when they should sway the other, they gesticulate extravagently for no reason reflected in the music, or they rotate their arms back and forth like they're churning butter when they're supposed to be playing the piano.Most of Alicia Witt's playing was believable, presumably because she was actually and in fact playing (she was classically trained and is credited as the performer in the film's credits).The only exception I noticed: the scene where she's playing the Chopin G minor Ballade while talking in a full, articulate voice to her piano instructor (Harvey Fierstein). Not impossible, but not typical either for a pianist to whip through a pretty demanding piece such as that Chopin and carry on a full-throated conversation at the same time. To me it looked like a Victor Borge routine for just a moment.Other then that, this film gets high marks from me for its believable piano playing. As for the rest, well, let's just say I wouldn't even be commenting on this film were it not for the goofy scene with the G Minor Ballade.

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.

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)