The Thing Called Love is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Samantha Mathis as Miranda Presley, a young musician who tries to make it big in Nashville. River Phoenix, Dermot Mulroney and Sandra Bullock also star. While the film involves a love triangle and various complications in Miranda's route to success, it provides a sweetened glimpse at the lives of aspiring songwriters in Nashville. Its tagline is: "Stand by your dream". The film was Phoenix's final complete screen performance before his death. Bogdanovich called the movie "a little picture with a slightly meandering French quality." A "making of" documentary is available on the film's DVD release, titled The Thing Called Love: A Look Back.
Plot
Miranda Presley is an aspiring singer/songwriter from New York City who loves country music and decides to take her chances in Nashville, where she hopes to become a star. After arriving in Music City after a long bus ride, Miranda makes her way to the Bluebird Cafe, a local watering hole with a reputation as a showcase for new talent. The bar's owner, Lucy, takes a shine to the plucky newcomer and gives her a job as a waitress. Before long, Miranda has gotten to know a number of other Nashville transplants who are looking to land a gig or sell a song, including sweet and open-hearted Kyle Davidson, moody but talented James Wright, and spunky Linda Lue Linden. As the four friends struggle to find their place in the competitive Nashville music scene, both Kyle and James display a romantic interest in Miranda, but she is drawn to James in spite of his moody temperament. Miranda pursues James, and they end up getting married, but they soon realize marriage takes work. James leaves Miranda behind to make his album, what he always wanted to do, but realizes he left his heart with her. He comes back to the Bluebird Cafe but discovers that Miranda has left town. Miranda returns and sings a new song, before tentatively reuniting with James. Kyle joins them as Linda Lue leaves for New York, and the remaining three discuss writing a song together.
Cast
Production
The film was to have been directed by Brian Gibson but in September 1992 he left the project to make What's Love Got to Do With It? and was replaced by Peter Bogdanovich. Bogdanovich says Phoenix approached Paramount to appear in the film. "He was brilliant to work with," said the director. "There were maybe two days during the 60-day shoot that I felt he wasn't as together as he was on other days. But one day, it was freezing cold and the other day, he took some kind of cold medicine that didn't agree with him. That was what I was told. But all the rest of the time, he was great... He was concerned with more than his own role. He was concerned with the overall picture, with the other actors and characters... He would have made a very good director."" The film focuses on the songwriters rather than the performers. "It's a different kind of crowd," said Bogdanovich. "More cerebral, less about the glitz." The film features cameos from Trisha Yearwood, Pam Tillis and Kevin Welch.River Phoenix wrote two songs including "Lone Star State of Mine"; Dermot Mulroney wrote one, and Sandra Bullock wrote lyrics for the song she performed. Bogdanovich admittted the film had some similarities to Fame and Flashdance movies that became "kind of a genre of its own... We tried to play by the rules of that. we also tried to play against that -- we tried to make it different from that kind of movie. We tried to walk a sometimes difficult tightrope."
Reception
Critical
The film received mixed reviews from critics, as it currently holds a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 21 reviews.
Box Office
The film debuted in several Southern markets. It was expected to open wider in autumn but Paramount decided against this following the death of River Phoenix. The movie ultimately ranked among the least profitable films of 1993. " did do some releases in Seattle and a few other places," said Bogdanovich in 1994. "But I think they were afraid of being accused of exploiting River's death. There was a kind of general worry about that. I guess that is the thinking that prevailed. It's pretty disappointing, but you know, I've learned to go on." The director felt the death of Phoenix affected watching the movie. "It was a totally different movie before. It had a hopeful quality and now it doesn't. The ending is ambiguous, but because River died, it becomes very sad. The last thing you're left with is that he is dead, even though the character is alive... was supposed to be bittersweet, but it turned out being more bitter than sweet."
