Nothing earth shaking, but it's a good comfort food movie for me. The performances are warm and Bogdanovich's signature long takes give it a certain distinction. Dermot Mulroney in jeans and a cowboy hat trips my trigger, too.
Ebert felt that it was clear River was on drugs in the film. There is a bit of a dark air about him in the movie, but I didn't think it was that obvious.
"Such strained touches notwithstanding, The Thing Called Love charms and touches, not the least for revealing Bogdanovich as a rare filmmaker still interested in human behavior, keeping the action mostly in medium shots and extended takes to better catch the emotional nuances from character to character. Songs succeed and fail, people fall in love and break up, yet the film builds an insightful sense of emotional community throughout, marvelously expressed in the lovely gag where Mulroney, starstruck that Trisha Yearwood is singing his song on the car’s radio, accidentally rams into the vehicle in front of him, and the irate driver, probably a fellow dreamer, congratulates him upon hearing the news."