An odd sort of a movie - part romance, part ensemble piece about friendship, part musical, part star vehicle for Samantha Mathis. It's not hard to see why it wasn't a big hit - on the other hand you can see too why some people would like it a lot. It's got a good heart and features one of River Phoenix's last performances, plus one of Sandra Bullock's first, and occasionally manages to be something sweet and interesting.
It starts off clunkily, with Mathis arriving in Nashville to make it as a singer-songwriter, with what seems to be very rudimentary direction and some really awkward scenes. But it gets better as it goes along (or maybe I got more used to what the director was trying to do) - those long takes Bogdanovich likes to do were particularly effective, and I wish the whole movie had been full of them.
The other movie of the director's this reminded me most of was They All Laughed - the easy banter and sense of camraderie amongst the characters (Howard Hawks influenced no doubt), the unexpected warmth from strangers (the policeman who pitches his songs, the person crashed into by Dermot Mulroney who is excited for Mulroney to hear his song on the radio, the girls watching River Phoenix propose), the use of country music.
Maybe at times he was going for a Last Picture Show vibe as well but the characters aren't as strong - Mathis basically plays a good girl, Phoenix a brooding bad boy who is kind of good, Bullock a warm comic relief, Mulroney a nice guy who likes to drink... Either these characters could have been fleshed out more, or we could have done with a few more characters (They All Laughed had one or two more).
Also I felt Mathis wasn't quite strong enough to carry the movie. I had a crush on her in the early 90s as did a lot of people who saw her in Pump Up the Volume - but she doesn't have the warmth and charm of Bullock. I'm nor surprised she got a leading role after Volume - on the other hand, I'm not surprised she wasn't offered too many more. (Though it should be said that attractive male actors get more chances than female).
Oh and I wasn't wild about the music. But still, it's a charming tale in it's own way.
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