This Can't Be Love (1994)
I know you’re going to want to watch this movie. It stars Anthony Quinn and Katharine Hepburn, in her last year of making movies—seeing these two powerhouse actors together must be movie magic, right? Well, unfortunately for audiences everywhere, you’ll find yourself repeating the title as you watch the terrible movie, This Can’t Be Love.
Katharine Hepburn plays a retired movie star, and much of Duane Pool’s script incorporates tidbits from her life. While at first, these charming anecdotes about her brother, her painting, and her feminist pioneering are amusing, the movie soon devolves into a shameless “let’s laugh at the old timers” film. I can’t abide those types of movies. When Anthony Quinn stands on a coffee table brandishing a sword, then literally gets laughed off the stage, it didn’t make me laugh. It filled me with sadness that these two wonderful, likable actors were reduced to accepting an insulting, demeaning script.
Kate and Tony play movie stars who were once romantically involved, but things ended so terribly they haven’t seen each other in decades. Tony’s granddaughter, Jami Gertz, sweet-talks Kate’s assistant, Jason Bateman, into helping reunite the two, but is there an ulterior motive? The twists and turns of the plot aren’t particularly interesting, and neither is the absurdly forced romance between Jami and Jason. He’s as appealing as a salamander—his gawkiness is worsened by his horrific clothes—and the audience is forced to suspend an enormous amount of disbelief to believe Jami would ever want anything to do with him. Thus, any interest the audience has in the film rests solely on Kate and Tony’s shoulders, and Duane Pool makes sure to squelch that interest as quickly as possible.
I know it’s tempting to see this movie, and if you must, I understand. But if you can at all resist it, rent Love Among the Ruins or Laura Lansing Slept Here for an old and adorable Kate, and Only the Lonely or A Star for Two for an old and virile Anthony Quinn.
I haven't been able to find This Can't Be Love available on DVD anywhere, so if you'd like to watch it, click here to watch it on YouTube. And thanks "beth palucka" for posting!
More Katharine Hepburn movies here!
More Anthony Quinn movies here!
Katharine Hepburn plays a retired movie star, and much of Duane Pool’s script incorporates tidbits from her life. While at first, these charming anecdotes about her brother, her painting, and her feminist pioneering are amusing, the movie soon devolves into a shameless “let’s laugh at the old timers” film. I can’t abide those types of movies. When Anthony Quinn stands on a coffee table brandishing a sword, then literally gets laughed off the stage, it didn’t make me laugh. It filled me with sadness that these two wonderful, likable actors were reduced to accepting an insulting, demeaning script.
Kate and Tony play movie stars who were once romantically involved, but things ended so terribly they haven’t seen each other in decades. Tony’s granddaughter, Jami Gertz, sweet-talks Kate’s assistant, Jason Bateman, into helping reunite the two, but is there an ulterior motive? The twists and turns of the plot aren’t particularly interesting, and neither is the absurdly forced romance between Jami and Jason. He’s as appealing as a salamander—his gawkiness is worsened by his horrific clothes—and the audience is forced to suspend an enormous amount of disbelief to believe Jami would ever want anything to do with him. Thus, any interest the audience has in the film rests solely on Kate and Tony’s shoulders, and Duane Pool makes sure to squelch that interest as quickly as possible.
I know it’s tempting to see this movie, and if you must, I understand. But if you can at all resist it, rent Love Among the Ruins or Laura Lansing Slept Here for an old and adorable Kate, and Only the Lonely or A Star for Two for an old and virile Anthony Quinn.
I haven't been able to find This Can't Be Love available on DVD anywhere, so if you'd like to watch it, click here to watch it on YouTube. And thanks "beth palucka" for posting!
More Katharine Hepburn movies here!
More Anthony Quinn movies here!