The new drama “Country Strong” is supposed to be All About Gwyneth.
Not only does Gwyneth Paltrow have gams to die for, plus an Oscar on her mantle and a rock star husband, she can belt out a tune better than any American Idol wannabe. And “Country Strong” exists, in part, to prove it.
Too bad she didn’t see Garrett Hedlund coming.
The young actor, currently starring in “Tron: Legacy,” steals “Country Strong” out from under the blond beauty. He’s got a rumbling, bruised baritone that could start any honky tonk joint a-jumping. He’s so natural you’ll forgive the film’s awkward transitions, clunky metaphors and an ending that seems too melodramatic for even the hokiest country song.
Paltrow plays Kelly Canter, a country superstar recently released from rehab to mend her drinkin’ ways. James (Tim McGraw), her husband-slash-manager, arranges a quickie comeback tour. One dazed stage appearance later, and it’s clear she’s hardly ready to resume her career.
She’s one hot country mess.
Enter Beau (Hedlund), a hunky young country singer who “befriended” Kelly during her rehab stint. He represents pure country music, with none of the bells and whistles seen swirling around Shania Twain and her ilk.
Beau joins Kelly on tour to provide some fresh talent and an emotional crutch. He’s joined by another country ingenue, a former beauty pageant winner named Chiles Stanton (“Gossip Girl’s” Leighton Meester) who sings like an angel when she can battle past her stage fright.
Sparks fly, lovers swap partners and vodka bottles crash against trailer walls. Would you want a country music drama that lacked any of the above?
Paltrow is perfect, on paper, for the role of Kelly. But the screenplay forgets to include that country star charisma that cemented Kelly’s stardom in the first place. The movie lets Paltrow shine way too late, forcing viewers to accept her superstardom at face value. At times, the fictional Dewey Cox of “Walk Hard” fame has more music cred than Kelly.
It’s a critical mistake in a film teeming with minor, more forgivable ones – like why Beau would waste his time with a boozed up Kelly in the first place.
Writer/director Shana Feste juggles the soapy subplots with some dexterity, but the final reel can’t deliver the show-stopping moments the story demands. And shame on the entire production for using Kelly’s visit to a very sick child to steer the movie back on track.
“Country Strong” offers some wonderful music to make amends for the storytelling flaws, including a flirty duet between Beau and Chiles. Even those allergic to pedal steel guitars will sway in their seats, and both Hedlund and Meester prove to have voices as purty as their respective pusses.
But “Strong” lacks a superstar presence, one Paltrow was supposed to provide in spades.
Audiences will enter “Country Strong” bracing for a powerhouse performance by Paltrow. They’ll leave eager to see what else Hedlund can do on the big screen.
(Photo: Garrett Hedlund plays a talented young singer smitten with a Grammy winning singer in “Country Strong.” Screen Gems)
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Let me be the first to say on this thread … you can take the girl out of the Upper West Side, but you cannot take the Upper West Side out of the girl.
So true, Uncle Kenny! I’ve read recent Paltrow interviews where she (unconvincingly) claims a new found love of country music, and Alan Jackson’s “Gone Country” song pops into my head.
I just don’t get why actors have to claim to love the subject matter of their most current movie. Sure, they have to at least pretend to appreciate it as to not offend their target audience, but like Paltrow, they usually go to far.
Sorry for the length, but the words of Hank Williams III’s “Trashville” say it all for this lover of outlaw and any non-pop-manufactured country …
Now Playin’ country music
it ain’t like it used to be
I’m so tired of this new stuff
they’re tryin’ to get me to sing
That ain’t no country music to me
Well, you can only take so much
of putting people down
when you got the best,
that’s tryin’ to beat your back doors down
Well, I used to think that country
was out of Nashville Tennessee
but all I see in Nashville,
is a bunch of backstabbers takin’ you and me
They don’t care about the music ya see
Well, I used to think that country
was out of Nashville, Tennessee
I’d rather take my things and
go back to Texas ya see
Now, I would pack up
and I’d leave this dirty town
but they’ve done taken me for so much
that I can’t get out now
Maybe one day but not right now
Well, I used to think that country
was out of Nashville, Tennessee
I don’t think that country’s here
’cause they killed it ya see
Well, I used to think that country
was out of Nashville, Tennessee
I’d rather take my things and
go back to Texas ya see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVDIsNbteoI
Great posts, all. I confess I didn’t care for country until an ex left a Dwight Yoakam mix tape in my car after we broke up … that changed my thinking quite a bit. I really dug much of the music in this film … but mostly the songs sung by the supporting players, not Ms. Paltrow.
So what you’re saying is Gwyneth should stick to karaoke tunes with Huey Lewis?
This is the creature that trashes America, and middle America the most and she thinks we are going to see her in a country movie?
Not a chance..
That fake Southern accent is like nails on a chalkboard! I will rant about this ’til Hollywood gets it right! Actors get months of coaching to do French accents, Italian accents, etc., but somehow Southern dialect eludes them. We do not sound like the cast of Deliverance, Gone with the Wind nor Foghorn Freaking Leghorn! Why not have a real Southern actress play this role vs. having it be a vanity piece for the odious Paltrow? Other than Royal Tennenbaums, has she ever really been that great? And please don’t say Iron Man or Shakespeare in Love. A thousand other actresses could have done as well or better. Loathesome. Tim McGraw, you should be ashamed, you sellout.
Yoakam opened my eyes to country as well. I couldn’t stand it at all growing up, but Dwight at least opened me up to a song here or there. Now I can say I’ve actually been in a fight at an outdoor Brad Paisley concert. How’s that for redneck bona fides?
Hedlund may have a niche. He was solid as a small town Texas fullback in “Friday Night Lights,” ironically enough, with Tim Graw as a, shall we say, over exuberant football father.
>>Now I can say I’ve actually been in a fight at an outdoor Brad Paisley concert. How’s that for redneck bona fides? >>
Nice. I’ll look for ya in the mosh-pit at an Assjack show.