Like the overwrought lyrics of a classic country ballad, Country Strong is movie manipulation of the highest order, a potboiler so potent that no one comes away unscathed by the heat. It's so jam-packed with creaky cinematic cliches that King Vidor and Douglas Sirk are suing from beyond the grave, claiming tearjerker copyright infringement. Still, if you can stand the stilted storyline (basically an awkward love triangle-plus-one locked into a tale of rehab and redemption with an added element of backstage backstabbing) and the uber-slick C&W tunes, you'll probably find the film engaging. Everyone else will see it as nothing more than one too many tears in their already bitter beer.
Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a famous country chanteuse whose drinking/drug problem seems to have finally caught up with her. After a horrific in-concert accident which saw her miscarry, she's been trying to kick the habit in rehab. There, she meets wannabe singer/songwriter Beau (Garrett Hedlund) and sparks fly. Of course, her manager husband James (Tim McGraw) will have none of this, and since his meal ticket seems to be ready to revolt, he immediately drags Kelly out of the hospital and puts her on a three city comeback tour. For some inexplicable reason, Beau is brought along as support. Of course, this really doesn't matter to hubby since he's been eyeing newcomer/opening act Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) with less than good intentions. While on the road, things go from soap opera-ish to downright dopey, as love and loyalties play out among the torch and twangers.
Get out your hankies and your copies of the Hollywood Handbook on Melodramatic Moviemaking -- Country Strong is going to get the waterworks going or give up the honky-tonk trying. It's funny -- when Tyler Perry does this with African Americans and gospel, everyone reads him the riot act, as if he's committed some kind of celluloid hate crime. But put a former Oscar winner in the place of Taraji P. Henson and suddenly, we're supposed to take this contrived crap seriously. Of course, nothing can save this silly drivel from itself. Gussied up white trash kitchen sink dramatics are still gussied up white trash kitchen sink dramatics, no matter the names on the marquee.
For her part, Paltrow is passable as the singer with her heart sitting squarely on her liquored-up sleeves. She has a presence when performing that is admirable, making the original music produced for this picture sound far more empowering than it actually is. Similarly, Hedlund and Meester make fine All About Eve fodder. They find a nice balance between the needs of the characters and the desires of the aged, creaky narrative. Finally, McGraw has proven he can hold the screen with his actor betters. While his work in The Kingdom and The Blind Side was better, he does not embarrass himself here.
But Country Strong is a movie without motivations. It's a celebration of story arcs without a single solid purpose behind the actions of those taking them. We never discover why Kelly is lost in addiction or why Chiles is so appealing to those around her. The whole purpose behind the comeback seems antithetical to a real career renaissance and the various interpersonal permutations are more about the workings of this wonky screenplay than anything real or organic. Indeed, Country Strong is so fake and phony you'd swear it was the wiglet-worked hair and plastic surgeoned face of an actual Grand Old Opry star. For her part, writer/director Shana Feste digs deep into the artform's archives to come up with her cavalcade of flawed formulaic chestnuts. Sadly, they're just as stale this time around.
Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a famous country chanteuse whose drinking/drug problem seems to have finally caught up with her. After a horrific in-concert accident which saw her miscarry, she's been trying to kick the habit in rehab. There, she meets wannabe singer/songwriter Beau (Garrett Hedlund) and sparks fly. Of course, her manager husband James (Tim McGraw) will have none of this, and since his meal ticket seems to be ready to revolt, he immediately drags Kelly out of the hospital and puts her on a three city comeback tour. For some inexplicable reason, Beau is brought along as support. Of course, this really doesn't matter to hubby since he's been eyeing newcomer/opening act Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) with less than good intentions. While on the road, things go from soap opera-ish to downright dopey, as love and loyalties play out among the torch and twangers.
Get out your hankies and your copies of the Hollywood Handbook on Melodramatic Moviemaking -- Country Strong is going to get the waterworks going or give up the honky-tonk trying. It's funny -- when Tyler Perry does this with African Americans and gospel, everyone reads him the riot act, as if he's committed some kind of celluloid hate crime. But put a former Oscar winner in the place of Taraji P. Henson and suddenly, we're supposed to take this contrived crap seriously. Of course, nothing can save this silly drivel from itself. Gussied up white trash kitchen sink dramatics are still gussied up white trash kitchen sink dramatics, no matter the names on the marquee.
For her part, Paltrow is passable as the singer with her heart sitting squarely on her liquored-up sleeves. She has a presence when performing that is admirable, making the original music produced for this picture sound far more empowering than it actually is. Similarly, Hedlund and Meester make fine All About Eve fodder. They find a nice balance between the needs of the characters and the desires of the aged, creaky narrative. Finally, McGraw has proven he can hold the screen with his actor betters. While his work in The Kingdom and The Blind Side was better, he does not embarrass himself here.
But Country Strong is a movie without motivations. It's a celebration of story arcs without a single solid purpose behind the actions of those taking them. We never discover why Kelly is lost in addiction or why Chiles is so appealing to those around her. The whole purpose behind the comeback seems antithetical to a real career renaissance and the various interpersonal permutations are more about the workings of this wonky screenplay than anything real or organic. Indeed, Country Strong is so fake and phony you'd swear it was the wiglet-worked hair and plastic surgeoned face of an actual Grand Old Opry star. For her part, writer/director Shana Feste digs deep into the artform's archives to come up with her cavalcade of flawed formulaic chestnuts. Sadly, they're just as stale this time around.
