Growing up, country music was a constant in my life, but Nashville, the seemingly magical place where the wheels of the country music business turned, seemed like a world away. As a '90s kid, I would spend hours watching CMT and TNN and let images of small town romance, new-found independence, heartache and betrayal wash over me. I'd watch Wildhorse Saloon and Club Dance to see couples shuffle across the floor to Pam Tillis and Dwight Yoakam and watch stars like Vince Gill, Garth Brooks and Patty Loveless greet fans during Fan Fair every summer. Still, Music City seemed like another universe.
The closest I came to Nashville as a child was the 1993 film The Thing Called Love. Helmed by the celebrated director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon), the film was not a critical or commercial success (film critic Roger Ebert gave it one star) and it's perhaps best known for being the final film performance of River Phoenix, who tragically died of an accidental drug overdose in 1993.
But in the years since its release, the movie has become something of a cult classic. And given Gen Z's love of '90s country, The Thing Called Love seems primed for a resurgence.
What made The Thing Called Love special — at least to my 10-year-old self — was its focus on Nashville's dreamers. The four young aspiring songwriters, Miranda Presley (Samantha Mathis), Linda Lou Linden (Sandra Bullock), Kyle Davidson (Dermot Mulroney) and James Wright (River Phoenix), at the film's center are all struggling with their own insecurities, fears and limitations, but their residences at the Drake Motel and all night writing sessions at the local diner seemed glamorous. And it put a (fictional) face to those who created the songs I loved.
One of the sweetest parts of the film is Miranda's friendship with Linda Lou, a hilarious, scene-stealing performance by Sandra Bullock, who infuses the songwriter turned aspiring Miss Nashville with the heart and humor she'd go on to showcase in While You Were Sleeping, Hope Floats, Miss Congeniality, The Proposal and more.
Bullock even performs a (less than impressive) song in the film, while decked out in a to-die-for purple fringe jacket.
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Centered around the Bluebird Cafe, a historic haven for Nashville songwriters, The Thing Called Love is a snapshot of '90s Nashville. Country legend K.T. Oslin portrays Lucy, Bluebird propietor and mentor to Miranda, and the film is chock full of cameos from country stars — Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Pam Tillis and Trisha Yearwood, to name a few. The soundtrack features both '90s classics and underrated gems like "Blame it On Your Heart" (made famous by Patty Loveless and recorded by Deborah Allen for the film), Clay Walker's "Dreaming With My Eyes Open" and Kevin Welch's "Streets of Love."
Today, I live in Nashville and, while not a totally accurate depiction of the music industry, I've discovered that The Thing Called Love got quite a few things right: the Bluebird Cafe is as magical as it appears on screen, '90s country is eternally cool and sometimes one great song really can change your life.
The Thing Called Love is currently streaming on Hulu as part of Turner Classic Movies' series on country music.
