MOVIE OF THE WEEK (1/7/2011): COUNTRY STRONG
Credit: Scott Garfield. © 2010 Screen Gems. All Rights Reserved.
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester
WRITER: Shana Feste
DIRECTOR: Shana Feste
WEB SITE: countrystrong-movie.com/
THE PLOT: A film that will either be credited or blamed for potentially fully launching the singing careers of its non-musically already famous co-stars, Country Strong stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Kelly Canter. A six-time Grammy Award winner, Kelly has fallen on hard times following an incident at a Dallas concert nearly a year ago where she - then 5 and a half months pregnant - had an incident that landed her in rehab.
That's where she met her "sponsor" Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund), a rising country singer-songwriter in his own right. And since the two are getting along famously, it comes as a great surprise to Beau when Kelly lets her know she is getting released a month early. Why is she getting released so soon, you ask?
Because her husband/manager (Tim McGraw) has booked her on an "encore" tour to revive her now flailing career, complete with an opening act in the form of Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester), a former beauty queen looking to break into the music industry herself. But Kelly is not going anywhere without her Beau, so the foursome hits the road on the path to redemption, stardom and personal discovery.
What they discover along the way, though, will change their lives forever.
THE TAKE: A few hours after getting home from the screening of Country Strong, I saw a TV trailer for the film that, much like that of next week's release The Green Hornet (more on that later), kind of does Country Strong a disservice. For while there are some definite romantic comedy elements to the picture, Country Strong is a lot more dramatic than you might be led to believe. That's not to say the film doesn't have some flaws, but all things considered, it is a much more serious exploration of the ideas of fame, love and which is more valuable in the long run.
Before I go any further, let me answer some of the most obvious questions you're likely to have about Country Strong.
[1] Can Paltrow and Hedlund - since we already know McGraw and Meester can - actually sing? In Paltrow's case, the answer seems to be "sometimes" while Hedlund might have a better career ahead of him behind a microphone in a recording studio than on a soundstage. This is by far the best acting he's done in his young career as he seems at home in his element in Country Strong, then again, as lackluster/short as some of his previous roles/films have been - Death Sentence, anyone? - that may not seem like much at first glance.
[2] Will you actually like the music? If you're into pop country, yes. If not, likely not. If you couldn't tell a Faith Hill song from a Cypress Hill song, what in the world is wrong with you?!
[3] Is this a romantic comedy or a drama? Well, if this movie were a car, it'd be a Prius. For while it is a hybrid, it definitely leans more in the drama direction and sometimes starts to speed into a direction where it needs to pump its brakes before crossing over into melodrama or too cheesy. Writer/director Shana Feste provides a decent backing track for her cast to work with in terms of a multi-layered story, Hedlund, McGraw, Paltrow and Meester doing their best in turn to provide their characters with depth so that you relate and empathize with each at various turns.
PARTING SHOT: So that all leads up to a fourth and likely final question: Is Country Strong worth your time? Well, let me put it to you like this - if it were a song, Country Strong would be that tune in a lot of people's collection that they enjoyed listening to every once in a while. It might not get the most spins, it'll never go platinum, but when you hear it, you'll think of it fondly ... Or at least won't change the dial instantly.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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