Music makes the world go round

A new post for the film, The Thing called love...

FILM ONLY REVIEW

Miranda Presley has a love for music so she decides to move from New York to Nashville where she hopes to get her songs heard and make a name for herself. She arrives at the Bluebird Bar for an audition but unfortunately she does not make it to the live show for the Saturday night and is told to come back the following week and try again. Miranda moves into a motel where she strikes up a friendship with fellow song writer Linda Lou.

Miranda continues to write and make friends, one she meets is James Write who has already sold some songs and has a recording contract, he is a loose cannon and soon there seems to be some feelings between the pair. Miranda is then introduced to Kyle who is also trying to make a name for himself and the four start to spend a lot of time together but Miranda is falling for James.

Can Miranda really find a name for herself in the Nashville music scene and what will happen between her and James?

There was no particular reason for me watching this film but as it starred River Phoenix I decided to give it a go. I did think it was a good film which has a good story but it did seem to move at a very slow pace and at times I lost a little interest as nothing seemed to be happening and I was willing it to move along quicker. I did like the fact t was set in Nashville as we got a lot of good country music to listen to which made a refreshing change to all the modern stuff we get nowadays and personally I don’t think the film would have worked as well if it would have had a different setting.

The acting was ok but nothing special. The lead role of Miranda was played by Samantha Mathis and for me she was quite weak. There was no strength about her which was a shame as she was supposed to be fighting for her dream. She also seemed very naive when it came to love and me and was quite thick when it came to the two men in her life. She did have a pleasant singing voice on some of the tracks she sang but o others she seemed very out of her depth. There was not an overly good or believable chemistry between her and the role of James which was a big let down as this was needed to give the story some real depth. The role of James was played by river Phoenix, I am lead to believe from the introduction give at the start of this film that it was in fact the last one he made. He was a strange character to work out, he seemed moody for the majority of the film but we did get one or two small insights into his emotions and feelings and I did enjoy this side to him. He seemed for the majority of the film to be not interested ad delivered his lines in a way which showed little interest in what he was saying. I think he could have given so much more to the film.

There were some very good support roles in the film and the one which really stood out for me was that of Kyle, he was played by Dermot Mulroney. He was a good deep character who wore his heart on his sleeve and really put a lot into his character. He was down to Earth and I was easily able to warm to him. We did have a character played by Sandra Bullock, Lindsey Lou, I felt she was made to look a fool, she was a little dumb and was scatty and made to look awful, she cold have bee stronger and more sensible considering she was living in Nashville alone and doing a good job of looking after herself. I am glad Bullock has moved away from these characters as she is much better than they are.

The film was filmed in Nashville and I enjoyed seeing their way of life, it was slower paced and I loved how everything had a cowboy theme and feel. The costumes were all in keeping with the setting and despite this film being made back in 1993 it did not look overly dated. There was an excellent soundtrack to the film right from the very start, it all had a country feel and I loved how all of the songs had real meanings and the words all told a story. I would not personally go out and buy the soundtrack but I felt it worked so well with the story and setting of the film.

There were no real special effects in the film and none were needed. There are no bonus features to speak about with this film as I am reviewing the film only and not the DVD. The running time is 116 minutes and I did find this to be a little too long. The rate is a 12 and I think this is suitable.

I am going to give this film a recommendation on the basis that you don’t expect too much from it. The story is good but needed to move slightly faster and some of the acting is very good. I would say that if you like your country music then this is a good film to watch. I would not pay to see this so try to catch it when next on the TV. 3 stars from me.