The Thing Called Love

Aspiring songwriter Miranda Presley (Samantha Mathis) takes the bus from NYC to Nashville. She arrives too late for an audition along with James Wright (River Phoenix). One week later, they make it to the audition as well as Kyle Davidson (Dermot Mulroney) and Linda Lue Linden (Sandra Bullock). Only James make it but the foursome start a friendship and more. This Peter Bogdanovich film has four great young stars. In fact, River's star dims about a month after this movie's release. This seems to be set up to be a great movie. Although I like Mathis, Phoenix is probably the more compelling actor. It would be even crazier if Bullock got the Miranda Presley role. The stories are a bit soapy. The songs are fine. It's just great to see Phoenix before his early death and an up-and-coming Bullock. Otherwise, it doesn't standout more than that.

They were several reasons why I wanted to see this movie: 1. it's about Nasvhille & country music of which I'm a fan 2. it stars River Phoenix, an actor of great skills 3. This one of River's last movies, if not the last before his tragic death and he does indeed look sick in this movie, skinny and all. And it's a disappointing ending for his career as this movie is really too shallow on its subject. Samantha Mathis comes to Nashville seeking stardom as a country music singer. She wants to start with the Bluebird Café, a renowned place where aspiring singers go apply for castings, and if they're good enough, they get to come back in the evening for a gig. There she meets with River Phoenix, Sandra Bullock and Dermot Mulroney, all with the same ambition, becoming the next country star. River is the most successful of them (it has to be noted they all sang their parts). If this movie's intention was to show how it goes in the music business, it missed. If it wanted to show a love story, it missed too because it only scraps the surface of the subjects. If you want country music and a depiction on how Nashville works, check out Altman's "Nashville".

When i first saw this movie i just watched it because i like River Phoenix. It is not one of River's best but its a good one. Once i saw it i thought it was really good because of the music. I'm not a big country fan but i like the music they put in this movie. The whole love triangle was a good plot. Sandra Bullock made it have some funny parts. It's very cute and very enjoyable. I would recommend it to female especially because it is a chick flick mostly. Whoever is a Elvis fan must go out and see this movie too. Even though it doesn't revolve around Elvis he has an important part in it. I love the movie go out and see it.

Director Peter Bogdanovich, still trying to get his career back on its feet, served up this fairly entertaining look at newcomers struggling to make it in the country music industry in Nashville. Despite the presence of talented actors Samantha Mathis, Sandra Bullock and Dermot Mulroney in the leads, this laid a colossal egg at the box office. The blame may be the high expectations for River Phoenix, who seemed to sleepwalk through much of his role. There was one scene where he was sitting at a bar and you might as well have been looking right through him for all the presence he displayed; for some reason I was reminded uncomfortably of Jan-Michael Vincent.

The Thing Called Love (1993) Whatever happened to Peter Bogdanovich? He directed several really deeply felt, nostalgia filled, honest films in the late 60s early 70s. But he had some duds, too, and that seems to be his long term groove, as if he was more comfortable loving movies (he's a buff, an historian, an insider critic) than making them. This one has the stuff for a heart-tugging drama filled with Americana, but it is slow, downright clumsy at times, and improbable. The latter is fine, of course--it's a fiction movie--but it wants to seem real, too, not fantastic. It depends too much on pretty people, so that's false, but these pretty people are trying to make it in Nashville as singer-songwriters, which is a fantasy after all, so who knows? The marriage in the mini-super market is pretty great, I have to admit. What works best, oddly enough (but no surprise), is Sandra Bullock, who plays her part with conviction. The music is supposed to be amateur and downright bad, but it's not bad enough to laugh at (and not good enough to enjoy). A bad spot in the middle. But then there's River Phoenix. Who knew he could actually play? Ah, but some plot is in order, something beyond the obvious. It's supposed to be a dream come true or something, but it just holds no water. If you love country music, there's something here, the general scene, the background, but that's not enough.

One of River Phoenix's last film roles was as part of a quartet of performer/songwriters looking to get a break in country music in Nashville. The rest of the quartet in The Thing Called Love is Samantha Mathis, Sandra Bullock, and Dermpt Mulroney. The whole thing kind of reminds me a little bit of Stage Door in the hopes and dreams and the camaraderie shared among the hopefuls. In the two hour running time of the film there are almost 20 musical numbers, so many the plot almost gets in the way. When the quartet isn't singing, they're acting out the usual angst romantic and professional that are common to the young. And several country stars do some musical bits here, chiefly Tricia Yearwood who sings her hit, She's In Love With The Boy. Tricia also figures into the plot when Mulroney and Mathis break into Yearwood's car in order to leave a cassette tape of Mulroney's latest song. It sounds like something out of I Love Lucy and it all works out in the Lucy manner with Yearwood being a good sport about it. In real life, those two would have been in court with Yearwood taking a restraining order out. The plot is pedestrian, but the music is nice, especially if you are a country and western fan.

"The Thing Called Love" was an average movie for me, but would probably be better appreciated by understanding fans of the country music genre, as the story here coincides which much of the soul in that variety of music (or at least it did before everything went pop). There may also be plenty of musical performances to enjoy, some performed well by the actors. Samantha Mathis, plays Miranda Presley ("no relation") a rather ambitious, bold young woman (a character for which she always seems most comfortable) who, oddly enough, is a New York native who travels to Nashville to try a career in country music. There, she meets three others who are on the same path, but all eventually lead in different directions. Though Mathis and River Phoenix (who portrays James, a sometimes hotheaded local country music success and, eventually, Mathis' on-again off-again love interest) are the primary focus of the film, the secondary character do play a significant role in the story. Sandra Bullock plays the shy (but soon, more independent) Linda Lue Linden who arrived in Nashville with the intentions of being a country singer (just like everyone else they meet in the small town), but soon has other aspirations. And Durmot Mulroney plays Kyle, who appears to make a better songwriter than a singer, and constantly vies with James for Miranda's attention. I would rate this movie simply as average because of the lack of development of some of the characters, despite their involvement in the story, as well as the lack of a solid resolution at the end. Although the whole cast gives great performances, however (check out Anthony Clark as Bullock's boyfriend, Billy), the story is lacking in some genuine finesse somewhere. As said before, country music fans might find more to appreciate about the situation and characters.

This is one of the most surprisingly bad movies I've ever seen. To think that the same man that directed The Last Picture Show also did this makes one wonder. I just rented the Director's Cut and deeply regret the spent time and money. Interestingly enough Sandra Bullock and Dermot Mulroney are the only remotely positive aspects of the entire film. Way too much praise has been given to River Phoenix for this role. I'll be the first to say that River Phoenix was an incredibly terrific actor in some films, but this film does not qualify. The supposed chemistry between Mathis and Phoenix is shockingly forced and unrealistic. The film is generally boring and meanders pointlessly for an excruciating 2 hours. I should mention that I was born and raised in Nashville and while the film isn't necasarily offensive in it's idea of what the city is like, it is obscenely unrealistic and a bit stereotypical (to clarify; the line-dancing party the characters attend, I don't think they really exist.

Peter Bogdanovich has had an up-and-down career. "The Last Picture Show" is considered his masterpiece, while his career has suffered in many other parts. One of his lesser known movies is this 1993 outing. "The Thing Called Love" is mainly know as River Phoenix's final movie, as he died two months after the release. As for the plot, it's about people's dreams. These young people move to Nashville hoping to make it big in the country music business. There of course will be complications. The cast members really know how to capture the characters' complexity. All the characters get enough screen time to let their personalities develop sufficiently. The movie has some surprises in store, namely the scenes involving famous people playing themselves. But most importantly, it reminds us that country music is supposed to be about hardship and heartbreak (as opposed to who has the biggest truck). If you have a message for the world, you should sing it. In the end, I recommend the movie. Phoenix, as well as Samantha Mathis, Dermot Mulroney and Sandra Bullock put on fine performances.

Not being a legitimate lover of romantic movies, THE THING CALLED LOVE did offer some pleasurable good times. Here's a real surprise treat, a movie about the love and lifestyles of the Music City world with a bright young cast, including Sandra Bullock in her impressive character as "Linda Lue". The long-late River Phoenix deserves some special attention in his guitar & singing numbers and his interaction with Samantha Mathis, a role that is among the best remembered. I'll admit the songs aren't half bad, but a few are just forgettable. The best part worth watching is Trisha Yearwood's car break-in, and even the real T. Y. makes a brief cameo! Enjoyably entertaining in a good ol' boy & girl spectacle, but for two hours, the experience tends to run too long. A pretty good movie, but I'll pass. Perfect for the leather & boots crowd.