Country Strong
It’s one of the first films of 2011 and it is coming out fighting. “County Strong” stars Gwyneth Platrow as country music super star Kelly Canter. A fallen star that has just finished a brief stint in rehab and after an early release her husband James (Tim McGraw) pressures here into going on tour again. While in rehab Kelly had sparks with Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund), an employee at the facility who has a mutual passion for the music.
Kelly agrees only to go on tour only if Beau is her opening act. James has another aspiring star in mind. Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) a former beauty queen who appears to be the Britney Spears of country. After some persuasion James gets both Chiles and Beau to come on tour for Kelly’s comeback. During this tour there is so much drama that a daytime soap opera could not handle.
James has lost his passion for his wife, who turns to Beau for love. Beau wants to be Kelly’s rock but realizes he is the worse thing for her now. Chiles starts to fall for Beau who begins to look at Chiles as the true talent she is. Then in the meantime Kelly falls off the wagon again and somehow manages to get her mess together for her final act in Dallas. Kelly’s performance not only blows the crowd away but was very appealing to me as well.
“Country Strong” is as County as you can get. Writer and director Shana Feste took the drama to the max, which made it lackluster. The film is very depressing and melancholy that you have a hard time finding the entertainment factor. That is until you get the music.
There is some GREAT music in this film. Newcomer Garrett Hedlund will have girls swooning with his amazing voice and easy on the eyes appearance. Gwyneth Paltrow is catapulted all over the place in this film, but her singing was better than expected. On a disappointing note Tim McGraw who is one of the best-known Country stars does not sing once in this film.
It may not be strong enough for all moviegoers, but “Country Strong” has a good chance at entertaining fans. Give it a possibility and see what it takes to have a comeback and how quickly it can all come to an end.
