Country Strong (2010)

... can be found in Country Strong. Every plot device has been done (and done better) in films you have seen a thousand times before. That alone doesn't necessarily make for a bad movie. Crazy Heart had nary an original idea in it, but it was still a great film.

This is the kind of movie you expect to see on the Lifetime Network. Lazy writing, competent-but-nothing-memorable acting and a generic soundtrack total a big "there's nothing THERE there!"

Paltrow tries gamely, bless her heart. She's an okay actress and has a decent singing voice, but still managed to be absolutely unconvincing in her role. You will never lose yourself watching this performance - you are acutely aware from start to finish that you're watching someone ACTING.

Sorry, folks, but I'm from Oklahoma and we know country music and the country music scene. This movie is the kind of movie that gets made by people who think they know what they're talking about, but you know better. I'd strongly recommend Crazy Heart over this nonsense.

Fmovies: This is a decent movie but not one that I loved. The singing in the movie is top notch except for 1 or 2 of Paltrow's songs which were just okay. These are some seriously talented people. Huge surprise that Leighton Meester is a terrific singer. You might know her from Gossip Girl.

You probably already know the synopsis -- alcoholic singer goes back on the road to try and reclaim her past star status pushed along by her manager/husband. She bonds with a young male singer/guitar player who she brings along on her mini-tour who, despite the best of intentions, can't quite pull her out of her addictive cycle. 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 was a nice movie to go see on a snowy night....doubtful that I would rent it once it became available or buy it on DVD...which is kind of the benchmark for me on what is a good movie.

You won't waste your money seeing it but you'll probably wish you'd seen it at a reduced price or at the matinée if you paid full price.

I actually really loved it and I too am glad I watched it despite many people not liking it enough. I liked Gwyneth and Garrett but Leighton was just amazing with her singing and her portrayal of the layered Chiles Stanton. Loved it! I am looking forward to seeing more movies of Leighton which are coming out this year and I am hoping they will be as strong. 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! I loved the banter between Chiles and Beau - was absolutely the best part about the movie!

Country Strong fmovies. 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! These are just great actors with great voices. Add in a strong performance from Tim McGraw (Oh why cant you just love your woman? - that's all she needs!!).

With fine, layered performances from all and a storming soundtrack, this is definitely unmissable for any country music lover. I'm still humming the tunes days later.

By the way, be careful if buying the soundtrack album. There are two! The first has other artists covering many of the film's songs and though it's a good album, isn't strictly from the soundtrack in every case. The second album, with the same name, seems to have original performances from the film, but was out of stock and I have it on back order. I think this is the more popular one.

Anyway, if, like me, you don't watch films that score less than about 6 on IMDb, make this one an exception. You wont regret it!

As a relatively new fan of country music, I must say I was disappointed in this movie. It had its moments, but overall I cannot recommend it. The clumsy, disconnected screenplay was probably the worst aspect of the film as it gave the actors little to work with. There didn't seem to be much continuity to the film, but just a bunch of scenes thrown together. 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. I cringed through the first half of the movie, which seemed to go overboard in portraying her flaws and failures, and wondered how much lower she would get before she turned things around. It was quite depressing, with no "payoff" at the end to make it worthwhile.

What the movie does have is some pretty good music. Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund, and Leighton Meester all sang quite well and almost made this movie worth seeing. Hedlund gave the best acting performance, and Meester wasn't bad. But I was quite disappointed in Tim McGraw's effort and feel it was the weakest of his budding career. I don't know if it was because he was playing an insensitive jerk as opposed to the nice guys of his previous roles, but he seemed strained and unnatural. And as well as Paltrow sang, and as much as I have enjoyed previous work by her, she was unconvincing in her portrayal of a country superstar (limited in part by the poor script, as noted earlier). The charisma just wasn't there.

Seeing a movie like this makes me appreciate well-written and well-acted movies all the more. They have a unifying theme that takes you somewhere and ties things together at the end (unless, of course, there is to be a sequel). "Country Strong" just didn't have what it takes, but ending up looking more like a direct-to-video film. It should have been titled "Country Pathetic."

I am honestly starting to not even bother looking at IMDb before I rent or go see a movie because they always seem to be way to harsh or not even at all close. 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. I would highly recommend watching this.