Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The Thing Called Love Paramount Movie •••• Picture/Sound •••½ Extras •••½

Whether or not you care for country, this little-seen but much-loved gem from 1993 about singer/songwriters trying to break into the music business in Nashville will satisfy on many levels. The loose story revolves around a bar's weekly open-mike auditions, and director Peter Bogdanovich crafts it into a Last Picture Show-like ensemble piece that represents a much wider world.

The actors who play the hungry talents (including Samantha Mathis, Sandra Bullock, and Dermot Mulroney) were near-unknowns at the time and all bound for greater glory - none more so than River Phoenix, as this was the last film he completed before death made him a legend. His performance of the film's instantly memorable, country-rocking songs towers above the other cast members' turns, good though they are. And Bogadanovich cleverly melds country with the classic formula of the backstage musical, to fill the film with heartbreak and hope.

Thankfully, the soundtrack is exceptionally clear. Voices and instruments are well separated across the front channels and come out nicely into the room. The picture in this director's-cut DVD is sharp and well contrasted, producing bright, detailed, and richly colored images, even in the many neon-filled nighttime scenes.

Throughout the extras - a director's commentary, a making-of documentary, and a short featurette on the look of the film - Bogdanovich is his usual droll and generously educational self, telling you why he moved the camera then, why he made that cut, and why he lit that shot just so. He also appears in an 8-minute cast tribute to Phoenix that's filled with much gushing on what a talent we lost. [PG-13] English, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround; letterboxed (1.78:1) and anamorphic widescreen; dual layer. - J.K.