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Play It as It Lays

Play trailer Poster for Play It as It Lays R Now Playing 1h 39m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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64% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 58% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Burned-out B-movie actress Maria (Tuesday Weld), depressed and frustrated with her loveless marriage to an ambitious film director, Carter Lang, who would rather work on his career than on his relationship with her, numbs herself with drugs and sex with strangers. Only her friendship with a sensitive gay movie producer, B.Z. (Anthony Perkins), offers a semblance of solace. But even that relationship proves to be fleeting amidst the empty decadence of Hollywood.
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Critics Reviews

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Bilge Ebiri New York Magazine/Vulture Mar 10
It’s an essential picture. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 09/28/2023
4/4
Play It as It Lays is an astringent, cynical movie that ultimately manages to spin one single timid thread of hope. Go to Full Review
Jay Cocks TIME Magazine 09/28/2023
For Didion the beach, the desert, the freeways and the plastic extravagances of architecture were metaphors. For Director Perry they are just locations. Go to Full Review
Jason Shawhan Nashville Scene Aug 18
There’s a melancholy to this film that feels undiluted by the intervening five-plus decades. Go to Full Review
Lee Jutton Film Inquiry Mar 21
Play It as It Lays is the rare adaptation of a literary masterpiece that lives up to the source material, and a fitting cinematic tribute to the power of Didion’s pen. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com 11/30/2023
4/5
…a searing portrait of a world that drives a person to madness… Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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andy p 01/11/2022 I watched it for free on YouTube. It was worth the time spent. See more 08/13/2020 remains one of the most tedious, boring films i've ever sat through. See more steve d 07/17/2020 Extremely melodramatic and not at all interesting. See more 01/02/2017 Well I was hoping this would be a lot better than it was. Given the director the cast and the writer but I'm sorry to report it's a rather dog th well I was hoping this would be a lot better than it was. Given the director the cast and the writer but I'm sorry to report it's a rather dull affair. Here we have Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins together again after their parents in a much more interesting movie for the boys and here we have Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins together again after their pairing in a much more interesting movie Pretty Poison. See more 12/19/2008 Tuesday Weld is just as good in this film as Marlon Brando was in "Last Tango In Paris"- if not better. She inhabits Maria so quietly, so completely, you hardly even realize that you're seeing a great performance. I've been wanting to see this film for years because I had a hunch, and I was right. This is one of the great film performances of the 70's. I wonder how long Ms. Weld had trouble sleeping after wrapping this picture. The screenplay, by Joan Didion and her husband, captures the tone and the structure of the book perfectly, which I didn't think was possible. This film is very hard to find- but there are bootlegs out there. Track them down. You won't be sorry. See more 08/11/2008 Hollywood is evil and it destroys your soul, blah blah blah. Vaguely interesting mainly as a time capsule of both Hollywood and filmmaking in the early 70's, but overall...eh. See more Read all reviews
Play It as It Lays

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Movie Info

Synopsis Burned-out B-movie actress Maria (Tuesday Weld), depressed and frustrated with her loveless marriage to an ambitious film director, Carter Lang, who would rather work on his career than on his relationship with her, numbs herself with drugs and sex with strangers. Only her friendship with a sensitive gay movie producer, B.Z. (Anthony Perkins), offers a semblance of solace. But even that relationship proves to be fleeting amidst the empty decadence of Hollywood.
Director
Frank Perry
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Production Co
F.G. Film Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 19, 1972, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Mar 7, 2025
Runtime
1h 39m