(DVD REVIEW) Country Strong

The first part of the Gweneth Paltrow double header, Country Strong proves to be a bit more of a Country "Song" than anything. Not really in a bad way, but in a way that I didn't expect. The movie does a great job of telling the traditional aspects of the Country Music genre...drinking, fighting, cheating, lies, women that are beautiful but tough as nails and men that seem a lot stronger on the surface than really are. Just like every good country song (and yes, there are some good ones), at some point those involved spin out of control...and some times they can right themselves.

Plot: At one point Kelly Canter (Paltrow) was on top of the world. She was the hottest act on the country charts (maybe in the world) until she was involved in an alcohol related on-stage accident that cost her more than her career...it cost her an unborn child. After being publicly shunned and grief stricken, Kelly goes to rehab for her alcohol addiction and to help her with the grief of the loss of her unborn child. There, she meets Beau Hutton (Hedlund), a "real" country singer that love the honky-tonk lifestyle and wants nothing more than to help Kelly get her life and career back to what it once was. When James Canter (McGraw), Kelly's husband and manager, takes her out of rehab early and sends her on a comeback tour she starts to slip. She is tempted by drinking at every stop and, as most addicts without finishing treatment will tell you, the temptation is great. This tour is designed to prove her strength as an artist and as a person....but when the goal is to PROVE strength, it is usually to compensate for greater weakness.

This movie was a lot darker than the original previews would indicate to the viewers. It shows some real pain in the characters. In the character of Kelly Carter, I often thought that the character was a weak person. A "cry baby" in a world full of adults. But by the end of the movie it is clear that she is a very disturbed person with little support and the weight of the world on her shoulders. I think it's a great movie and that you should rent it.