The Thing Called Love (1993)
Average Rating: 5.4/10
Reviews Counted: 21
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 9
The last film River Phoenix completed before his death, The Thing Called Love doesn't have much new to say about show business, but it's energetic and well acted.
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 2
The last film River Phoenix completed before his death, The Thing Called Love doesn't have much new to say about show business, but it's energetic and well acted.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 10,002
Movie Info
A handful of up-and-coming songwriters discover that love is as difficult to navigate as the music business in this romantic comedy-drama from director Peter Bogdanovich. Miranda Presley (Samantha Mathis) is an aspiring singer/songwriter from New York City who loves country music and has decided to take her chances in Nashville, TN, where she hopes to strike it big as a musician. After arriving in the Music City after a long bus ride, Miranda makes her way to the Bluebird Café, a local watering
Jul 16, 1993 Wide
Mar 7, 2006
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Cast
-
River Phoenix
James Wright -
Samantha Mathis
Miranda Presley -
Dermot Mulroney
Kyle Davidson -
Sandra Bullock
Linda Lue Linden -
K.T. Oslin
Lucy -
Anthony Clark
Billy -
Webb Wilder
Ned -
Earl Poole Ball
Floyd -
Trisha Yearwood
Herself -
Larry Black
Taxicab Driver -
Kevin Bourland
Publisher -
Zoe Cassavetes
Bluebird Waitress -
Starletta DuPois
Selma -
Wayne Grace
R.C. -
Paul Hampton
Doug Siskin -
Micole Mercurio
Mary -
Katy Moffatt
Herself -
Tom Nolan
Desk Cop -
Jack Verbois
Rear-ended Driver -
Rosie Flores
Writer's Circle Part... -
Rick Hall
Onlooker -
Jason Klassi
Writer's Circle Part... -
-
O'Neal Compton
Singing Cop -
Barry Shabaka Henley
Reverend Raymond -
Valeri Ross
Doctor -
Ancel Cook
Onlooker
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All Critics (23) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (9) | DVD (5)
Perhaps there's not much new to say about the dues and disappointments involved in breaking into the country music scene, but the scenes are fresh and the emotions real in Peter Bogdanovich's tune-laden, mixed-mood drama.
Top CriticBogdanovich's modest staging is occasionally awkward -- his kids still watch John Wayne movies at the drive-in -- but there's a convincing sense of what Nashville's like and how country music works.
Although well acted, with early scenes that deftly sketch the atmosphere, the movie, written by Carol Heikkinen, never takes off.
It bears as little relation to the real Nashville as Altman's 1975 feature, but director Peter Bogdanovich, the talented cast, and the credited and uncredited screenwriters are so busy conjuring up a charming world of their own that I didn't mind.
Perhaps no one could have saved Phoenix, who was not lucky enough to find a higher bottom than death. But this performance in this movie should have been seen by someone as a cry for help.
A star is born in Nashville.
Peter Bogdanovich brings conviction but little else to this upbeat response to Robert Altman's Nashville.
It's good enough to watch, but not good enough to re-watch.
Nothing terribly new happens here, but Bogdanovich plays out his scenes with tenderness and affection, and the honest performances spring to life.
The Thing Called Love charms and touches.
It's so sad that Phoenix went out not with a bang but with this whimper.
A highlight of Phoenix's career
Sometimes Bogdanovich is just too intelligent for his own good. While he hardly puts a foot wrong in his observation of shattered ambitions, his curse seems to be that his work will forever be unfashionable.
River Phoenix gives a somnambulant impersonation of Christian Slater impersonating Jack Nicholson, and Samantha Mathis spends much of the movie trying to figure out exactly who her character is.
Aside from its blatantly commercial aspirations and predictable storyline, there is an appealing cast, enjoyable songs and some funny bits of business.
Audience Reviews for The Thing Called Love
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Foreign Titles
- This Thing Called Love(1940) (DE)
- This Thing Called Love(1940) (UK)
