Film info

• Title Country Strong
• Director Shana Feste
• Year 2010
• Run time 1hr 57m
• Genres Music, Drama, Romance
• Tagline It doesn't matter where you've been as long as you come back strong

Soon after a rising young singer-songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) gets involved with a fallen, emotionally unstable country star (Gwyneth Paltrow), the pair embark on a career resurrection tour helmed by her husband/manager (Tim McGraw) and featuring a beauty queen-turned-singer (Leighton Meester). Between concerts, romantic entanglements and old demons threaten to derail them all.

Background Info

This wouldn’t really be my choice of film, I must say. I have nothing against country music, but I’m more of a Shania fan and pop-country is not so popular in the country world. I like to think I’ll give any movie genre a go, though, so Country Strong it is.

Live Blog

1:14 - Mr C says, you’ll recognise Tim McGraw, he’s the one in the cowboy hat. They’re all wearing cowboy hats! 5:28 - This is the five most countrified minutes I’ve ever spent. 6:45 - People actually call other people hoss? 9:16 - Released once again from rehab. That’s not a good sign. 12:00 - “I have no intention of stealing your invisible career.” 14:52 - Omg, she said y’all. 21:34 - Saying So am I is not accepting an apology. 24:59 - Why is he on the bus? I thought he said no. 29:59 - She can’t be mad at him though, she’s cheating on him with the other guy. 33:04 - I’d make that face if I turned around and saw that many people looking back at me. 39:00 - “I am going to sing, okay?” Not a good start to a gig. 42:53 - I want a tour bus. 44:24 - Ooh, Austin! 47:02 - What are they doing on that train and how are they going to get back again? 48:59 - She just walked out of his hotel room in a towel. She’s not very subtle. 56:21 - I don’t like any of these people. 1:02:21 - Ooh, that’s like Coyote Ugly. 1:11:42 - Everyone is sleeping with everyone else except Tim. Doesn’t seem fair. 1:19:30 - That might be the cutest kid there has ever been. 1:24:59 - “Just because they put them on the radio, doesn’t mean they’re worth a damn.” Weeelll… 1:33:15 - She’s reading the gossip mags. Everyone says they don’t do that. 1:39:18 - “If you’ve got it, flaunt it, make all the cowboys want it.” Ahh, country music. 1:46:22 - She said she wanted to live on a star. 1:52:28 - Tim McGraw only gets to sing over the end credits.

Conclusions

The story was okay, although a bit cliched in places. It was far too long, but I suppose that comes of having to fit in lots of singing in amongst the story, rather than letting the songs move the story along (like in musicals). I didn’t like any of the characters and certainly couldn’t relate to them, but their story was interesting enough. I probably could have done with subtitles, because not only were they quite deep accents, they also seemed to mumble an awful lot.

Rating: 3/5

Rating: 3 / 5