"Talking about love is like dancing about architecture." That phrase inspired Willard Carroll to write the screenplay to the character-driven, romantic drama Playing by Heart (originally entitled Dancing About Architecture), a film that delivers stellar performances from such diverse talents as Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Connery, Anthony Edwards, Angelina Jolie, Jay Mohr, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, and Madeleine Stowe.

A poignant, funny drama, directed by Carroll, Playing By Heart follows a group of people of varied generations and lifestyles as they search for love in contemporary Los Angeles. All of these people - strangers, lovers and family - are transformed by a series of unsettling events that bring into focus just how elusive, complex, and occasionally miraculous love can be in the right circumstances.

"Guy East and Nigel Sinclair of Intermedia Films brought my attention to this script during the premiere for Sliding Doors at Sundance," says Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of Miramax who co-financed and produced the film with Intermedia. "I read it that night, and was so moved by its beauty that I made the deal over breakfast the next day."

Less than a year later, on 30 December, Playing By Heart premiered in the US. Christopher Pickard