User Reviews

There is an excellent reason that you've never heard of this movie before. Don't for a minute let the IMDb rating fool you -- it seems clear that Manzarak's friends are the only ones to have actually voted for this. Pay more attention to the fact that, as I write this, seven people have paid enough attention to actually vote for the movie.

"Love Her Madly" has the feel of one of those porn movies made by a director with pretensions to making a more "serious" film -- it's every bit as dull, silly, poorly written, and badly acted as the non-porn sequences in something that Jack Horner might have made in "Boogie Nights." And "Love Her Madly" doesn't even have the porn sequences.

The script is especially mortifying, written by someone not half as clever as he thinks he is. The acting and cinematography are strictly soap opera stuff -- to amplify that a bit, strictly Latin American soap opera stuff. One should anticipate cringing in embarrassment on a regular basis on behalf of everyone involved in the making of this. That's not what I call my brand of entertainment, but your mileage may vary.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a former member of The Doors knows a beautiful girl when he sees one, and there are periodic sequences involving the simply stunning Jennifer Lothrop undulating scantily clad (for artistic reasons, of course). Let it suffice to say that this is strictly, and I do mean strictly, for those who can't get enough of Lothrop on FX Network's "DVD on TV" program, and the movie will test the endurance of even these fanatics should the sound actually be left on.

Others may find themselves resisting the urge to blow their brains out after about ten minutes of this. A must-avoid film.

I saw this movie as a curious fan of The Doors, and the fact that Ray had claimed that the idea for the movie had come from the mind of one Jim Morrison. I must admit, after all the criticism focused toward Oliver Stone from Ray Manzarek with regards to The Doors movie starring Val Kilmer, I was surprised at the hypocrisy of one Ray Manzarek. I remember the utter disdain, aggressiveness, and absolute hate that Ray displayed during the pre-production of Oliver Stone's Doors film that I was personally shocked. Every chance Ray got to publicly condemn and humiliate Oliver Stone, he would, and gladly crap on the guy for such an inaccurate portrayal of Jim Morrison and the doors. I have seen the Oliver Stone version of The Doors and all in all the premise, events and people were basically portrayed the way that history, biographies and anecdotal evidence of the times claimed took place. There are some inaccuracies in the movie, however 80% of the film is pretty much what happened. Ray really has to come to terms with the fact that his skill lies in the fact that he is an excellent musician, and not a filmmaker. I think back in the UCLA film school days he and Jim had visions of becoming the next Frederico Fellini or a modern day David Lynch, however it wasn't to be. I think what Ray wanted in essence was to make the film The Doors, however Hollywood would not invest the money into a project where the director or filmmaker who had no real proved track record, or list of movie/film credentials that would attract state holders who held the financial strings at the time, so to speak. I am disappointed that Ray's real first attempt at making a movie turned out so bad, I had expected something unique, something sacred and something entertaining and different, much like the doors were back in the day. I did not expect a B Grade sub- porno film, which exactly what "Love Her Madly" is. I guess this has really colored my thinking about Ray, his thought processes, his prejudices, his anxieties, and ultimately, his jealousies. When all is said and done, if it wasn't for Jim Morrison, Ray would have wallowed away in anonymity, if the last two albums without Morrison were any indication, and with regards to the "An American Prayer", the subsequent album, was just stealing Morrison's poetry, and laying tired old doors music to it. Oliver Stone was right in keeping Ray off The Doors movie set, he was disruptive, infantile and immature and had nothing of any real substance to add to the creative process other than his technical input, in which he withdrew anyway because of his self righteousness, jealousy, and sense of self entitlement and pretentiousness.

I'm not even sure, people.

I originally bought this because, due to "Bones" on Fox, I have an obsession with T.J. Thyne.

I put it in to watch.

Well, the acting is really overdone in parts (mostly with Gabe- the younger three here aren't half bad), the music really does sound like a bad porno, and it's... well, obviously a pretentious sort of indie artsy film.

And yet, about a day later, I had an urge to watch it again. I made a friend watch it with me and she had the same reaction. It's kind of odd, really.

In short: Meh. I'd only recommend seeing it if you're a huge fan of the doors or find yourself as a major fanboy/girl of one of the actors (as I am). The movie had potential (the characters are actually really good, the story is likable), but Ray, buddy, you just... yea, stay away from the film-making.

Ray Manzarek is a legend of the keyboards and has a Masters degree in film from UCLA but its interesting to note that he is still more famous for Light My Fire than Love Her Madly..... Truly the worst movie I have sat and watched in 45 years of watching film..... it makes Plan 9 from Outer space seem like an interesting movie....... a waste of 90 minutes of the life of anyone watching..... so utterly abysmal that it has to be seen to be believed that a group of people would spend 17 days of their lives and turn out such utter dross.... the acting is dismal, script total drivel with the end bit nicked from Sidney Lumets DeathTrap and worst of all.....it was actually shown in a cinema.... ....and I am believe it or not a huge Doors fan!

One of the worst aspects of this garbage is the way Manzarek shamelessly promotes the story as coming from the mind of rock legend Jim Morrison. Thus ensuring that a few Doors fans like myself would give it a try even though we were well aware after his awful LA Woman interpretation that Ray Manzarek had the directing talent of a half drunk chimp on crack. Manzarek needs Jim Morrison to remain in the limelight as his talent dwindles year in year out whilst Morrison needs Manzarek like a hole in the head. Wonder what happened to Rays film 'Riders On The Storm' a tale of a bunch of college friends who go into the desert and get stoned.....another idea from Jim Morrison apparently......or just one nicked from Oliver Stone in an act of total hypocrisy by Manzarek. It seems as 2009 comes to an end Manzarek the writer and Manzarek the film maker have taken a back seat to Manzarek the full time Jim Morrison groupie!

Having picked this DVD up at a local market for £1, I was a bit disheartened to check on IMDb and discover that I'd bought a turkey. It's now a few weeks later and I needed a DVD box, this was still lying around so I tipped out the disc. What the hell, I thought, let's see just how bad this film is. Well, it isn't that bad at all. Possibly it is a real disappointment for an avid Doors fan but then I didn't buy it for that reason. I bought it more for the tag line; 'At the crossroads of art and obsession, waits murder'. The movie is a little pretentious, the acting not always perfect, but Manzarek does successfully explore issues of life, beauty, obsession and exploitation. He also manages to keep the story moving well and maybe because I wasn't expecting much at all, I was very pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it is.