Review: Country Strong

They say if you play a country song backwards, you get your job back, you get together again with your wife, your dog comes back to life, and your truck starts working again. Well, if you take a couple of up-and-coming actors, throw in an Oscar winner, have them record the above and then play THAT backwards, you get Country Strong, which opens today in theaters. This is a rumpled mess of a movie that I kinda liked, expected to hate, but just couldn't find much to love.

The story ostensibly covers Gwyneth Paltrow's down-and-out country superstar Kelly Canter as she attempts a comeback tour after leaving rehab a month early. Garrett Hedlund's Beau Hutton accompanies her as her "sponsor" and opening act along with her husband James Canter (Tim McGraw) and Leighton Meester as former beauty queen Chiles Stanton.

While travelling from Nashville to Houston to Austin and then Dallas, Paltrow plays out a tired post-rehab crash comparable to events we've seen recently in The Wrestler and The Fighter. (Why didn't they just call this one The Singer?) Meanwhile, we see a love triangle turn into a love square as the characters all bounce between each other's hotel rooms. There are some touching moments, but nothing else stands out as particularly exciting, joyful, or heartbreaking in this destined-for-Lifetime depressathon.

"Cliche" is the strongest word that comes to mind to describe Country Strong -- every line is so predictable and cliched you know what the characters are going to do before they do, themselves. Even their names tell you what and who they are: Kelly Canter - cantor is one who sings, Beau is her beau, and Chiles the child she never had. So, this was a film with few surprises -- one being that Tim McGraw never sings through an entire movie about country music -- which I expected to hate.

The pleasant surprises here were Hedlund and Meester. Close on the heels of Hedlund's TRON: Legacy (my review), who would expect this techno teen idol could sing country so well and would have the acting chops to hold his own against Paltrow? As it turns out, Hedlund grew up on a farm, and his deep gravelly voice is something akin to a bearskin rug with a couple of large burrs, perfect for the surprisingly good songs we hear. As a native Dallasite, I can say Leighton Meester is entirely convincing as the ex-Ms. Dallas trying to catch a break. She is beautiful and upbeat in every scene, with song performances that, like Hedlund's, are worthy of a country & western star. The pair of them made the film more enjoyable than it deserved to be.

Audiences will enjoy the soundtrack, and those who don't think too much will enjoy the story. Unfortunately, a neutered screenplay that advertises every punch and then pulls it manages to soften any emotional impact from Oscar-winner Paltrow's performance. In a script about songwriting, the titular song "Country Strong" only appears in the final performance and with no connection to the the character herself. I guess Country Weak, while a more descriptive title, didn't have quite the same ring to it.

Austin connections: Director Shana Feste is a graduate of the screenwriting program at The University of Texas at Austin. Part of the movie is set in Austin, although it was shot in Tennessee.