Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Pretty Good

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

Despite the presence of many "name" actors (Marlo Thomas, Elliot Gould, Harvey Fierstein, etc.) this is an embarrassing lame independent film that feels like a student project rather than a professional film. Apparently aiming to be a slice of life comedy, it falls very flat as most of the jokes are dated and extremely unfunny. The tone is very uneven and the setting -- contemporary San Francisco -- is poorly utilized."Playing Mona Lisa" is about a recent music conservatory grad, Claire Goldstein (Alicia Witt) is dumped by her boyfriend and goes into a tailspin of depression and bad luck. She's surrounded by "crazy" friends and family, including Harvey Fierstein as her gay piano teacher and parents Marlo Thomas and Elliot Gould. I can't give away any spoilers here because there aren't any -- nothing happens in the course of the film and none of Claire's problems or issues are resolved or even dealt with.This is the kind of film that is written by someone who is either WAY out of touch with young people today -- someone well over 50 -- or someone from a foreign culture who has no idea how Americans live or act in the 90s. Claire -- a 21 year old college student -- apparently owns her own ROW HOUSE in SAN FRANCISCO...this would be virtually impossible unless her family were multi-millionaires as San Francisco is one of the most expensive housing markets in the US and Claire does not even have a job. Or maybe I have something with the multi-millionaire thing, because her parents live in a huge Victorian mansion on the banks of the San Francisco bay with views of the Golden Gate Bridge (approx. value: $10 million plus).If it's the filmmakers intent to show the life of a super wealthy princess, that's one thing. But this is supposed to be a story about a down-to-earth, regular girl with normal life problems and a goofy (but normal) family. What wacky planet does the director/screenwriter come from that she does not realize that virtually nobody lives this way? There isn't much of anywhere to go from a premise this completely detached from normality...humor derives from exaggerated real life situations we all can recognize, if you start with an absurd, unworldy premise then there isn't much of any place to go to.There is plenty to laugh at and find humor in amongst young people in the late 20th century...if you had ever MET any of them. None of the 22 yr olds in "Playing Mona Lisa" have body piercings, tattoos, JOBS, college loans, computers or anything else that I associate with young people that age. In fact the whole tone of the movie seems to come from the early or mid-70s. There are a lot of marijuana and drug references, trying to be cool in a desperate way, and an excruciating scene where Claire's stuffy middle class parents "accidentally" get high....as if the parents of 20-something kids would not themselves have grown up in the early of Woodstock and pot and rock music!!!!This film has nothing whatever to say about contemporary young women, or the choices/problems that they face in life. It doesn't even have anything to say about the struggle that a classical music student would face in transitioning from music conservatory to professional career in one of the most ruthless and competitive fields of music.The only remotely interesting thing to comment on here is that Alicia Witt -- who has no gift for comedy or dialogue and utterly fails to carry the film or charm us -- appears to actually be playing her own piano pieces. This is refreshing compared to the many other lame films out there where a talentless actor "fakes" playing. However, if she was selected for the role because of this talent, it was still a mistake. It takes some charisma and personality to head a film, and Ms. Witt is a blank slate.This is a film to be avoided, even as a rental. Complete waste of your time.

This is obviously a chick flick and therefore not aimed at me but, even so, I cannot see that this movie serves any point whatsoever. Alicia Witt is charming but that is NOT all that a real film requires. This is a "comedy" created by Hollywood hacks who do not really respect comedy. "Let's have a normal heroine and throw ha ha hilarious eccentric characters all around her." That's not how you create comedy, it's how contemptuous people slough junk off onto us. If you enjoyed this film, you must laugh uproariously when you see people around you fall into mud puddles. I sure wish Hollywood would quit trying to market this sort of thing as comedy and come up with some new term for it. My suggestion would be "lamedy" but I don't suppose they'd go for that. While taking a walk, a little kid in the park said, "Poop," to me. If you find that hilarious, then you'll enjoy this flick.

Every so often a really interesting actor comes along which strikes one's attention. Ivan Sergei is a fine example.Sergei's role as Matt Mateo in "The Opposite of Sex" (1998) was a perfect vehicle for this handsome actor, with a 6' 4" frame that can seem almost gawky in its skinny countenance. He perfectly caputured the essence of Christina Ricci's "semi-husband," between affairs with Martin Donavan's and Johnny Galecki's "lovers" in that delicious black comedy.Sergei there offered a wonderfully modulated performance, with excellent comic timing. He could be intelligent or dim-witted, but one thing he's not, and that's insincere.That's why his two-timing Eddie in "Playing Mona Lisa" (2000) is so unconvincing in the later part of the script. Sergei's probably just too helluva nice guy in real life-- and that's just fine, for he can go a long way by just playing himself onscreen. It's up to casting directors to properly utilize Sergei's engratiating personality in the proper roles.Further, in the long run, it really may be to his advantage to keep himself in the second or third "tier" of casting credits. He won't become a "star" or "romantic lead" this way (though he facially looks the part). But he may keep working and stay healthy much longer, while enjoying what he obviously loves to do: act. He has both the looks and the voice to sustain a quite respectable career.In the case of "Playing Mona Lisa," Marni Freedman's scenario from her play is too fragmented to provide Sergei or most of the other cast members with much of a chance to develop well-rounded characterizations. Nor does Matthew Huffman's erratic direction help matters. In the end, the movie becomes rather forgettable, leaving scant impression.It's just nice to see Ivan Sergei in the cast. When you see him listed, you know you're in for some warm moments with a charismatic personality who loves his craft and (very likely) humanity.

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.