This Can't Be Love
This Can't Be Love
| 13 March 1994 (USA)
This Can't Be Love Trailers

Two aging actors, who had a brief but intense marriage in the 1940s, are reunited decades later to find that issues between them are not resolved.

Reviews
Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
Ploydsge just watch it!
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
V J I felt so sad that I intensely disliked this movie. I loved Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond; it was charming, engaging, and the script well written, and deserves its relatively high rating. This Can't Be Love was farcical and absurd. What a shame. Hepburn went on to make two more movies after this that were no more successful. But, she was rather wonderful in another movie co-starring with Ryan O'Neal, The Man Upstairs (1992). They played an ex-judge and an escaped convict, and made a good screen team. Yes, it was silly at times but also, like On Golden Pond, it was charming and engaging, and fun. This Can't Be Love seems so sloppy, and just plain awful. And continuity? I'm at a loss. At the beginning a young woman more or less invites herself into Marian Bennet's home (Hepburn) after just about stalking her. She arrives in a taxi, wearing a brown jacket and carrying a paper bag of groceries and leaves Marian's home wearing a a striking black and white jacket. As much as I watched and rewatched relevant scenes to see if the jacket had been in the taxi, or if I had missed something, I still cannot understand where the b&w jacket came from, or why she was suddenly wearing it. Anyway, a big thumbs down from me, sad to say.
HotToastyRag 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.
Alexander Chamberlain Although it may not exactly be "Bringing up Baby" I thoroughly enjoyed this romantic comedy starring Katharine Hepburn in her final leading role. She still shines as an actress in her 62nd year of acting despite suffering from skin cancer during filming. But being a trooper she makes it through the movie in one piece. Her character parallels her own life on so many levels that this could be considered a documentary on her own long and successful career. At one point she even talks about appearing in a western with John Wayne (Rooseter Cogburn 1975) and having survived a hurricane as she really did back in 1938. All in all, this was a cute little television production. It's always nice to see Kate Hepburn.
Jakeroo Hardly any of it works. Too heavy handed and some over acting. The antagonism between the two main characters makes the romantic overtones unbelievable. Two great talents, Hepburn and Quinn, are mis-directed in this one. Barely a 6!