Wordiezett So much average

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

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

brgnj94 Yes, it was shot in 1983 in Honesdale PA. The name of the hotel when it was open in real life was Bethany Colony. After it had been closed for awhile it was used by the studio to make this movie. The Honesdale High School senior class were in the movie in the graduation scene. Unfortunately, the studio left the hotel in worse condition than when they found it. I've never seen it but would love to so I am trying to find a copy. Sounds like a DVD version I will never see but luckily I still have a VHS player! I was only 11 when it was filmed but remember the movie being filmed when I lived in Honesdale. Never knew the stars in it or that it was Miramax's first film. I'll have to let the rest of my friends know that.

dirtydee-1 i cant believe all the negative reviews about this movie this movie is the bomb i first discovered this movie back in 1995 on the encore channel and since then i been a fan how can you not like it the acting is kind of silly but its great i love the songs and it teaches you how to succeed not fell and Marisa tomei is not the main character Daniel jordano is the star Marisa is just a supporting actor and i heard that this is the first very first film from the Weinstein's good job so if people want to see where Marisa tomei started its right here its a sad movie to me anyways i wonder how the other casts are doing the soundtrack is awesome i like the part when the inspector come by and gets hit by the latter i don't care how many bad remarks this movie gets its my favorite.

Pepper Anne I'm surprised to see so many negative reactions to this film. As a regular junkie for obscure 80s comedies, I kind of liked it. I mean, the underdog story was quite far-fetched and there were several elements to make it laughable (the music video-like sequences scattered through the more motivational sequences in the film), but it is it really deserving of such poor ratings? Actually, this is the kind of film that an obscure 80s comedy/drama fan might only appreciate (it is probably destined for cult status anyways, even if the following for such is extremely small) because you have to expect (and forgive) a lot of campy cheesiness. Afterall, that's the natural byproduct of the underdog genre.This is the story of an optimistic, and idealistic, teen from NYC. A recent high school grad, he's determined not to be stuck in some dead end junk job that he would regret for the rest of his life. Among the three friends who are primarily the main protagonists of this film (along with Harold Gould as Rockerfella and Marisa Tomei as one of the girlfriends), he is the dreamer with plenty of ideas for greatness. Opportunity comes a-knockin' this time in the form of a deed to an upstate hotel inherited from an Aunt, along with eight thousand dollars worth of debt. Despite urgings from his mother not to bother with it, he and his friends plan to fix it up and turn it into a youth hotel, The Hotel Majestic.This, of course, is much to the chagrin of the small town's high profile investor, who, in cahoots with another sleazy businessman, intend to get their hands on that hotel any way they can. And when the teens refuse to sell it to him, he turns the whole town of middle-age and senior ogres against them. Being the underdog genre, you have to know that these kids (and their friend, Rockerfella) aren't going down without a fight. Like I said, you have to expect quite a bit of cheesiness. But the film has it moments of sly city humor (I particularly like Jimmy Biao's character, Stienberg) and other elements that may make it worth watching. I actually started watching it with the impression that it was going to be terrible (I had bought it at a video store where I usually have zip luck with the selections). Certainly, fans of obscure 80s films ought to give it a try.

FeverDog I loved PLAYING FOR KEEPS when it was released in '86; I went to see it three times, and bought the soundtrack at least twice on cassette (I kept wearing it out). What can I say? I was 12. It was, at the very least, my introduction to Pete Townshend and, eventually, The Who. Last year I found the CD for a dollar in a cutout bin, and I'm shamelessly wallowing in it right now. (I'm in full-tilt cheesy '80s soundtrack mode - I've already run through BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, and I've got HIDING OUT ready to go.)Speaking of $1 finds, I recently came across a beat-up VHS tape of PLAYING FOR KEEPS, and since a DVD release seems unlikely ever to happen, is there any other way to revisit something I enjoyed in seventh grade?After watching the tape, I wondered how I could have found such an inane, simpleminded movie so appealing. The best part is right at the top - the opening credits, with Townshend's spirited "Life to Life" starting things off. Or, at least the beginning was joyful in another time; the credits are interspersed with images of New York City, including a tinted, fractured photo-negative of the World Trade Center. The movie now, at least to me, starts off on a melancholy note, but the montage is fairly brief, and unrelated to the main story.Most of the movie is set in some generic, podunk New England burg, where it's Conservative Establishment vs. Idealistic Youth as our heroes plan to change a dilapidated hotel into a rock and roll manor (the reason that a large hotel was first built in such a remote location with no visible amenities in its vicinity is never given). Thinking this premise is somehow simultaneously predictable, stock, unlikely and implausible is letting the screenwriters off easy. I guess it goes without saying that this hotel turns out to be supremely gaudy and not the least bit cool; the production reeks of early MTV - it's replete with garish neon, acid wash denim, musical montages, and "Thriller"-era choreography, including break dancing.The credits are really the only part of PLAYING FOR KEEPS that doesn't make me gag now. The movie itself is unrelentingly shoddy and drowning in clichés, occasionally surfacing for inept acting and astonishingly lamebrained dialogue. (And the obligatory invocation of the movie's title couldn't have possibly been delivered with more agonizing ham-handedness.) No wonder that the cast, with one notable exception, continues to toil in obscurity.That exception is, of course, Marisa Tomei. PLAYING FOR KEEPS will be invaluable for the future Friar's Club Roast in her honor. I doubt even her biggest fans are aware of this movie, for which she must be grateful. PLAYING FOR KEEPS also the answer to a fine trivia question; how many people would know that this is the only directorial effort by Bob Weinstein? Miramax should package the DVD with director's commentary. I'd love to hear what co-writers & directors Bob and Harvey Weinstein have to say about this skeleton, and surely most of the cast could take some time off from their oh-so-busy schedules to record a separate cast track.Now that I've come clean about PLAYING FOR KEEPS, I should go ahead and disown other cinematic indiscretions from my youth. I better start rumaging through the bargain bins for used VHS tapes of RAD and MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY to expunge any lingering fondness for those equally banal movies.