Country Strong

Plot synopsis:
WARNING! The Synopsis may contain Spoilers!Best Line: Fame and love cant live in the same place.Country Strong is a very well written and well acted movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow as the aging Kelly Canter; a country western star with a past, Tim McGraw as her husband/manager James Canter; Garrett Hedlund as Beau Hutton a young country western singer working part time at clubs and part time at a rehab center; and Leighton Meester as Chiles Stanton a Beauty Queen want-to-be country western star.Country Strong is a movie that takes a look at things most of us dont want to even acknowledge, addiction. The writer, Shana Feste does a very good job; shes either been there or knows someone close to her whos gone through it because shes captured very, very well small nuisances that most of us would not even see. Most times you see a movie and it shows one side or the other, but Country Strong shows that pain of the disease comes to both user and care giver; in this case, the talent, Kelly; and her husband/manager, James trying to save her career or at least to let her go out gracefully, but more towards keeping her on the stage and bringing in the money. What got her into rehab was being drunk at her concert, being pregnant, and tripping over a cord and falling ten feet losing the baby.We meet Kelly and Beau playing with song lyrics in the first scene at the rehab, after we get a performance by Garrett Hedlund singing. They are interrupted by Kellys husband, James, who is there to take Kelly out of rehab early and get her back working. This happens too often; usually the drinker convinces the care giver that they are fine now; the care giver wants to believe it, and even though it shouldnt happenthe addict leaves early with still no skills at dealing with the bumps in life.Then we meet Chiles Stanton getting ready to sing at a club to become Kellys opening act, even though Kelly wants Beau to open for her. Beau is offended to hear this Beauty Queen is singing at the famous club he sings at, feels she hasnt earned the right, isnt good enough, doesnt fit the mold after all, Patsy Cline had sung there. Really the situation represents her being there at all, that anyone is auditioning to be Kellys opening act because he believes she should stay in treatment and the last thing she should be doing is going back out on tour. Beau feeds Chiles some snide remarks, reminding her that she usually chokes when she tries to sing anyway. His prediction does indeed happen. After a few attempts of trying and freezing up he cant just let her go down like that so he starts a duet with her to get her started, whatever else Beau is, if he sees a solution his compassion kicks in and he has to help.James sees this as an opportunity to get someone on the road with them that will help with Chiles and with Kelly so he agrees to have Beau tour with them.Kelly is a typical fragile drunk out of rehab, she needed more time there; she has no skills, she still sees the world a bit skewed and she has no coping skills. Armed with nothing she attempts to return to the business that demands everything of her. She still has the alcoholics dramatic way of seeing what they want to see, not asking what is true or correct, but just taking that feeling and running with it. First concert: shes doing pretty good, then she stumbles onto an innocent conversation between James and Chiles about her wardrobe not clashing with Kellys and all Kelly sees is that James is interested in Chiles. Then a delivery man shows up with gifts from sponsors and special fans (screened) but somehow a box slips through and it has a doll with blood all over it Xed out eyes and the word Baby killer. That was more than she could stand so she did the only familiar thing, she fortified herself with a bottle of vodka.We get to see the care giver side a little. James has picked Kelly up early, she demands that Beau open for her. They are in bed and she asks him how talented she is, she needs to hear that he still sees her the same. She apologizes for Dallas (meaning losing the baby) and says that they should talk about it. Something she learned while in rehab, owning up up to what we did and facing what the other person has to say. Then she makes a romantic gesture and he announces he has just taken an Ambein and hell see her in eight hours. So at the concert she believes shes seen James in a clandestine situation and now she has gotten the doll; without enough rehab under her belt she returns to the only thing she knows works. Now it is up to James to get her out of the closet and on the stage. He gets her to let him in and he sits next to her trying to reason with her that there are sick people who will never forget and that she needs to prove them wrong and get out there and show them that she is not that person anymore. He begins to lose patience and tries to pull her from the closet and without thinking she slaps him. Now the oh so familiar alcoholic behavior, apologies, Ill do anything you want, please, Im sorry, please like me like I used to be. The caregiver now has the upper hand, he can get her to do whatever he wants. He gets her on stage, but she is drunk, the singing lasts only a short time then she starts blathering, forgetting where she is and what is expected of her. She tries one time to sing but ends up crying and has to be escorted off the stage.James becomes angry with Beau demanding to know where he was when she got the vodka. Beau replies, I was on stage! James becomes angry proclaiming that Beau should have some tricks up his sleeve to keep from doing this. Beau replies, Yeah, dont take her out of rehab before the rehab!The next tour stop is Austin, everyone worries if Kelly can hold it together for that performance. Kelly is trying desperately to have James the way they used to be. She remembers the way they used to be and wants him to see her the same way again. James feels like he lives with two different women, one is the one he fell in love with and the one he has no idea what shell do next. He seen her lose their baby, slap him, and fall apart on stage. Hes running out of excuses for her.Kelly sober and trying to rebound again, tries to see the world good again and decides Beau should see a recording studio because she feels certain he will be recording after this tour because it is natural for him, he doesnt care for who, he just loves writing and singing. When they arrive at the recording studio, Chiles is recording the song that she wanted to close her Dallas show with and record for herself. Since James is her manager she sees him as a conspirator and back stabber, so shes off and running again, though everyone thinks she went back to the trailer.James and Beau have an interesting conversation about what kind of man Beau thinks James must be. James admits he has no idea when she became so fragile, that she used be so strong, and that all she wanted was to be on stage. That he has no idea what to do with this new Kelly. Beau tells James that they should turn the bus around and put her back in rehab. James says he just cant let her go out like that; that at one time she had such a fire inside her and hopes that she can get that back. That James was her sponsor, he must have seen it, Beau admits that they both know he wasnt her sponsor, and James decks him.The Austin Show is doomed from the start. Believing that she is in the trailer, no one seems concerned until it gets close to show time and no one knows where she is; Beau figuring he can find the crap kind of bar shed end up in and he does find her. She is however completely smashed. He has Chiles bring a taxi down so that they can get her back, Kelly tells Chiles that Beau is a good guy. They unfortunately come in a door where the promoter sees her condition; Thats it were done.James again feels slapped in the face by that other Kelly. He just walks away. From the first botched concert her public relations outfit puts together good publicity by having her make an appearance for the Make a Wish Foundation where she would visit a little boy with leukemia. After the botched 2nd concert James tells her it has been cancelled. Kelly visits the promoter and gets the Dallas concert back. James is not really happy about this at all, but does his job.Kelly visits the school and a little boy named Travis who has leukemia and sings a song she makes up on the spot about him. Then she dances with him and gets the whole class to dance. James comes and dances with Kelly which surprises her and she loves it. To her it is just like when they were young and loved each other. After a few minutes James looks at her, stops dancing and walks down the hall and sits on a bench crying. This is the woman he loves, but how long will she be this woman, in his mind he sees her vomiting, slapping him, sleeping with other men, their lost baby, and he realizes he has to keep her at arms length because she has the power to hurt him so much, it is not easier to be her manager, she makes him look bad all the time, but as a wife and love, she could destroy him.When he pulls away, Kelly realizes that they will never have any other kind of relationship and, I believe it is then that she decides what she will do.Like I said, two people, a drinker and their care giver, share such a volatile relationship, the drinker needs to stop drinking and examine their drinking life. The caregiver has to decide for themselves whether they can risk whether they can take anymore. Alcohol is a legal drug, but it ruins more families, loses more jobs, kills more people, cuts production at the workplace more than all the other drugs combined.Her last show is very good.

Tags: cult, romantic

Review:
Once again she showed how wonderful and talented an actress she really is.Garrett and Leighton played their roles very professionally...very real and we need to see more of them.I love this movie.
"Country Strong", a surprisingly good film (even if you live in  California and don't happen to like country music).
Starring Gwyneth  Paltrow (Iron Man), Tim McGraw (The Blind Side), Garrett Hedlund (TRON:  Legacy) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl), "Country Strong" succeeds  in doing exactly what it sets out to do; that is make a dramatic film  about country music that is also entertaining.
Synopsis: A story that follows fallen country music superstar Kelly  Canter (Paltrow) as she is released from rehab and attempts a comeback  concert.
Final Thought: "Country Strong" is currently getting raked through the  mud by critics for its simplistic storyline, but let me tell you this:  anyone (and I mean anyone) who is a fan of Country music will  undoubtedly love this film.
It looks like it will be an uplifting film that shows us the bad stuff in the beginning, then maybe a bump or two, then everybody winds up happy and "Country Strong." This is not the case at all.It is a sad look at addiction but I think more realistic than someone coming out of rehab and everything being sunshine and lollipops.
I had never heard of this actor (had no clue he has the lead in TRON) and I came home to look him up immediately because I thought surely he was a real up and coming country singer.Gwyneth's voice is really good, and if Garrett or Leighton ever made a country album, I would buy it.
If you can so much as tolerate it or accept the singers as being talented, I think you'll be fine.I plan to buy the soundtrack, but wish it had more from Garrett and Leighton because they each sang a lot more than 1 song in the movie!.
My wife and I just watched Country Strong with Tim Mcgraw, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Gerrett Hedlund and we both thought the movie was awesome!!!
Very very good acting and Garrett Hedlund should def think about a music career or at least put out an album, because that guy has a very unique voice, and he is awesome!The movie shows the trials and tribulations in the star world and what i can do to someone and I thought it was just a very good movie.
Aside from her singing the title song, there was nothing about the main character (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) that was remotely strong, and the ending was hardly inspiring in that regard.
Since I'm fond of good country music I thought I'd give this a try, despite not being very keen on Gwyneth Paltrow.
However, in this movie she gives a storming performance as a famous country singer, gradually falling apart with depression and alcohol - and she has a great voice!
Yes that really is Gwyneth singing in the film.The good news doesn't end there because the supporting cast are just as good, Garret Hedlund and Leighton Meester were fantastic and so good as country singers that I immediately looked for their albums, but apart from the Country Strong Soundtrack, there aren't any!
I am actually rather surprised as to why people didn't like it-...I guess they were comparing to movies made before on country music with similar story lines but I didn't mind at all!
Leighton Meester plays a very sympathetic and likable character who is just trying to live her dream...she's brought along on the tour by the husband/manager.Overall, it was a depressing movie....to see someone battling addiction and how it eventually wears down the people around them to the point where they look like they are nasty (poor McGraw) when in reality they are just tired of the cycle of self-destruction.What was entertaining and enjoyable about the movie was the songs and the concert scenes.
It's all juke box jive.Like JFK, Dallas has bad connotations for country sweetheart Kelly Cantor (Gwenyth Paltrow) whose super star country singer status is held in peril by a fondness for alcohol ( easily remedied if she adopted C&W octogenarian Willie Nelson's game plan).
I love movies like Coal Miner's Daughter, the Jazz Singer, A Star is Born, THe Rose, the first Pure Country, Walk the Line and I do get why some people loved this, but the only word I can think to describe this is - vanity.
Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a country music star with addiction problems.
Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) is a pretty young thing desperate to be a star.I just can't buy Gwyneth Paltrow as a country music star.
Gwenyth Paltrow plays the role of a fallen country music star, Kelly Canter, who is pushed by her controlling husband, James Canter (Tim McGraw), to continue with her career after a short stay in rehab for alcoholism.
Despite the fact that Kelly knows she is not yet ready to get back out on stage, she agrees to do so under one condition: she can bring along musically-talented friend and lover, Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund), as her opening act.While Kelly struggles with her relapse into alcohol addiction, Beau finds love with young, rising star, Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester), and James is left disappointed and hurt.
No,instead of that you got 4 lead characters (the 'comeback',the 'cowboy',the 'beauty queen' and the 'hurt husband-manager') that have true meaningful stories and that were written in very human ways to really touch the audience,bringing out all sorts of emotions, the story does have cheesy aspects to it,but its not a cheesy movie by any mean, its money well spent, go check it out ;) PS: Not giving too much away, the ending is great, and the love story between Chiles and Beau is LOVELY :D.
Paltrow, Hedlund, and Meester could all be country stars with those voices of theirs (and those incredible hooks they get to sing).Already a fan of Paltrow despite her choices in projects, this film reaffirmed her talent for me.
The two truly were magnificent, and Hedlund's chemistry with both Paltrow and Meester was infectious.Writer/director Shana Feste did a superb job at balancing the music and the story, weaving the on-stage performances into the emotional journey of the characters.
Tim McGraw was shockingly good (he can really act!)and Gwyneth Paltrow delivers a better performance than Jeff Bridges did in his Oscar win of a year ago.
The best thing was the music, there's some great tracks and Paltrow reputedly learned to play the guitar to carry this character off but each of the characters were so poorly developed it was hard not to predict the films tired scenes.
Especially if you like Country music, you will find quite a lot, that you will enjoy about this movie.
I don't really like country music but I like Leighton Meester was surprised by Gwyneth Paltrow's voice and thought Garrett Hedlund was good in Tron.
I think it would have been better if it started off with Kelly falling and entering the rehab first and then getting out.I have to admit this is not Tim's best,he was really better in a couple other films,but he is great in this movie,it is another side to him.
I have watched this movie numerous times and I love the characters of Beau and Chiles.
How you react to those surprises will influence how you ultimately feel about the movie.Gwyneth Paltrow plays Kelly Canter, the troubled country star.
With Paltrow's character in such dire straits, and with country superstar McGraw playing a guy who doesn't actually sing, it is left mostly to Hedlund and Meester to carry the musical side of the movie.
This film is a fairly realistic portrayal of the life country stars face--whether you're the aging star trying to come back after crumbling under pressure, a rising star full of innocence and idealism with only a naive dream telling you what you're about to experience, a cynical streetwise veteran who has seen it all and who abhors the spotlight while still benefiting from it, or auxiliaries known as management who whore after the money and don't really have a clue about music or what their stars are going through.
This film is for anyone: a music lover, someone who loves a good cry at a movie, anyone!
Hedlund's performance as Beau is delightful as he plays the stereotypical 'country boy' but changes through out the movie for the best.The songs in the film will make you keep wanting to rewind the DVD and play it over and over again.
Toward the end I even found myself empathizing with Kelly's husband who is mostly portrayed as her uncaring career driven manager.The music was not overplayed and the songs were enjoyable, Gwyneth has an amazing voice and so did the rest of the singing cast.
Country singer legend Kelly Cantor (Paltrow) comes out of rehab to resurrect her career.It took almost the whole movie before we heard Paltrow sing.
For most of the movie it was like Paltrow saying, "yeah, I can sing, but watch me act first." Had this been a true story, we could have forgiven that.
With these country western type movies, we get to hear the real country songs by pretty good singers and Hedlund and Meester are indeed that.
It was a pretty predictable plot and I'm getting a little tired of stories about actors coming our of rehab, but overall it was a very entertaining and enjoyable movie particularly if you like great country music..
Not a huge Paltrow fan, don't really like country music, before this film had never paid full attention to Garrett Hedlund.
In this one, Gwyneth Paltrow portrays a veteran Country Music superstar who's fallen on hard times amid dealings with her manager-husband (Tim McGraw), her rehab "sponsor" as well as an aspiring singer played by Garrett Hedlund (who I previously liked in TRON: Legacy), and a fellow beginning warbler played by Leighton Meester.
All of the songs in the movie were very good, and I usually do not even like Country music.
Good music as well as lyrics and I enjoyed watching Gwyneth and the two younger stars, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester, perform their songs through the movie.
This movie was surprisingly really good it starts off a little slow but you get really into it and the songs aren't that bad I personally don't even like country music but after watching this movie it's changed my perception a little!
Academy Award Winning actress Gwenythn Paltrow returns to play the role of an out of rehab country star and with the help of Tim McGraw as her manager and husband go through the struggles of returning to fame along with Leighton Meester and Garrett HedLund.
I liked the blending of real-life stars Tim McGraw, Lisa Stewart, Lari White, and Ed Bruce, and my favorite scenes were the concert footage, the bar scenes, the bus scenes, and the room scene where they talked about "Miss America." It was also a good movie about relationships, getting started, and heading out in the right direction.
If you like the stars and country music, you will love this movie.*** out of ****.
I found Paltrow to be a very believable country personality and her accent was just right, not over-the-top and ridiculous like a lot of other non-southern actors who've acted in southern roles (think "Beans" from Rango).
Gwyneth Paltrow plays Kelly Canter, a country singer who has had one too many alcohol related episodes and is taken out of rehab just a little bit too early by her manipulative and controlling husband James.
James is played by the real-life country singer Tim McGraw, and it isn't until the final scene are we incredibly disappointed that Country Strong has such a fine and powerful singer but chooses to make him not sing a note.I digress once more; Kelly is persuaded by James to do a series of comeback shows with the opening talents of Beau (Hedlund), who is a closer friend of Kelly's than James sees, and Chiles (Meester).
Paltrow's Kelly actually attempts to bring her music into the light where it's not entirely country but not a lot of pop.Country Strong desperately wants to work its way into Oscar territory, and it surely had potential.
I mean, if critics really knew how to act, or write, or direct or produce they'd be doing those things instead of criticizing the work of others.In the case of Country Strong the critics really have done the movie a great disservice and deprived a lot of people of a moving and enjoyable experience.The storyline may not be very innovative but is realistic, and Gwyneth Paltrow in the lead probably gives the greatest performance of her life to date.
The storyline is fantastic, and even though I am not a big fan of Country Music, the music in this film is amazing.Not only does Paltrow give a fascinating performance, but her co-stars were just as dedicated and honest.
A different ending would have helped and the movie just left me feeling unsatisfied.The music and the singing were good but not all of the acting was top notch.
By the way you DON'T have to love country to like this movie.
She is married to her manager James (Tim McGraw) who struggles with Kelly's addiction, consents to rehab where she meets young Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund), an aspiring country singer and talented songwriter, but James pulls her out early to that she can make a comeback after a series of embarrassing flubbed shows.
Paltrow offers some of her own songs, but oddly enough the true country star - Tim McGraw - never sings!
Garrett Hedlund as the up and coming country singing beefcake that Gwyneth's Kelly is lusting after is kind of two-dimensional while Leighton Meester is woefully miscast as the beauty queen that McGraw's character is trying to help.
Average movie with brilliant voices & performance by Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund & Leighton Meester..
The music of the movie is simply brilliant even if you don't like country songs, you will enjoy it.
Even though the music is great the movie lacks majorly in characterization especially Garrett Hedlund (Beau)'s and Gwyneth Paltrow (Kelly)'s.
Tim McGraw the country superstar singer did a decent job as an actor though surprisingly he is the only person who doesn't sing in the movie.
Country Strong is an amazing movie and should be viewed as a character study with some great music, awesome performances and several messages about hopes, alcohol abuse and music.Highly recommended!.
Very solid and enjoyable, and also heart-tugging story about fame, burnout, up-and-coming rivalry, love, fear.The singing is solid from everyone, and although I am not a country music fan, I am a fan of the music in this film, it is beautiful.Garrett Hedlund in particular is outstanding as a friend/lover/musician.
Being a big fan of Gwyneth Paltrow and Garrett Hedlund did help in my appreciation of this movie which I think is much better than given credit for..
Country music fan or not, you will love this movie.
I see her as that weak character from movies like Se7en and neither her acting or singing were nearly strong enough for me to change that image.
The film begins with Beau Hutton (played by Garrett Hedlund) and Kelly Canter (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) both in an alcohol rehab facility.
Beau wants to have a good time singing country tunes while Chiles wants the pop stardom and to sing songs that have titles like rides at Disneyland (that was a joke from the movie).
The performances and singing by the cast were amazing (McGraw, the only real country music singer in the film, doesn't sing a single note).
It could be the very pretty cast of actors, or it could be the engrossing storyline, or it just might be the music that had me swaying in my seat, whatever it was, I left the movie as a devoted fan.This gripping movie is about a country megastar named Kelly Canter, played by the illustrious Gwyneth Paltrow and her rocky journey through the world of alcoholism.
The movie boasts a well put-together cast, starring Tim McGraw as Kelly's husband/manager, James, Garrett Hedlund as her sponsor and opener, Beau Hutton, and Leighton Meester as the up and coming country singer, Chiles Stanton.The movie starts out in a rinky-dink dance hall in Nashville, Tennessee.
I don't know if people like it because it's one of the few movies about country music or if people just want to be depressed.
If you want a movie about country music, watch Walk the Line.
Performances And Country Music Can't Make The Movie Excellent.
Country Strong is a movie that stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, and Leighton Meester.
When Kelly starts drinking again, Beau gravitates towards his more stable tour mate.The cast gives a great performance particularly Gwyneth Paltrow with the way she handles her songs.Also,it features great country music.Unfortunately,its clichéd and formulaic screenplay makes it less of an excellent movie.Also,the story is disjointed in the sense that some elements in the plot are far from clear..
There is just no real purpose to it.Paltrow gives a decent performance as country music star Kelly Canter.
Garrett Hedlund stars as Beau Hutton a rising young talent on the country scene is on the path to greatness by observing what it has done for Kelly and by maintaining his faithfulness towards his lover Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) and to continue his success performing in dance halls over crowded stadiums.
In that way they try to keep this movie geared to the country music genre of the film.
She opens the film effectively with Gwyneth Paltrow as Kelly Canter, country music icon released from rehab after a stint that caused her a miscarriage in Dallas.
I've seen some brilliant country music films like Crazy Heart, and Walk The Line.