There is a down-home comfort saturating “Country Strong,” in that “somebody done somebody wrong song” way, that almost carries you through when its music-drenched melodrama gets predictable. Which is pretty much as soon as the fragile, still-in-rehab country superstar played by Gwyneth Paltrow starts talking about the baby bird she’s found and is trying to save.
So, like, Scene 2.
Paltrow’s Kelly Canter is trying to mend her own broken wing, her drinking and on-stage meltdowns having put her career in need of rehab and recovery too. The actress brings her own surprisingly sweet voice to the foot-stomping, two-stepping proceedings with such surety that if you didn’t catch her coming- out party on the Country Music Association Awards last month you’ll probably find yourself saying, “Wow, that girl can sing.” Which, as it happens, is not necessarily the take- away you want from a movie, even one about the roughhouse country music industry.
It’s a very tough arena that writer/ director Shana Feste has chosen to play in, given such classic movies and classic performances as Sissy Spacek in “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Robert Duvall in “Tender Mercies,” Jessica Lange in “Sweet Dreams,” Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line” and Jeff Bridges in last year’s “Crazy Heart.” The roles won Oscars for all but Lange, who did get a nomination.
When the starting point is a world in which even the toughest guys wear their hearts on their sleeves, the trick for filmmakers is how to walk the line without getting stuck in the muck, and that is a problem the filmmaker hasn’t yet figured out. “Country Strong” is Feste’s second film and she infuses it with an earnestness that swings between too too much and appealing. But in the more nuanced moments (and there are some of those), she has a way with dialogue that could turn her into a force if she can ever get the balance right and send the obvious packing.
The story is an all-too-familiar one, that deadly cocktail of too much fame and too much drink for someone who’s lost touch with who they really are anymore. The film opens with Kelly about to trade rehab for the road again. Her husband- manager James, played by real-life country music superstar Tim McGraw and about the only one in the movie who doesn’t sing, is sure she’s ready. Besides, James has a double shot in mind — jump-starting Kelly’s stalled career while launching another, a sassy bit of hot sauce just off the beauty pageant circuit named Chiles Stanton (“Gossip Girl’s” Leighton Meester).
Meanwhile, Kelly’s sober buddy at the facility, an attentive singer-songwriting hunk named Beau (Garrett Hedlund) with bedroom eyes and talent — a lethal cocktail in its own right — is not so sure.
Director of photography John Bailey opens things up, pouring a lot of light into all the dark places Feste has created. Although the film unfolds in and around Dallas, shooting it on location in Nashville has served to give the look a rock-solid foundation. The music that runs through the production is a blend of old standards from the Merle Haggard and Hank Williams set, and the new country of Hayes Carll. Whether in dive bars with bare stages or big-hair blow-outs, staging the performances is where the filmmaker finds her comfort zone.
What helps elevate “Country Strong” when the music stops is the strength of the performances. Paltrow is an actress who slips into roles as if they were old sweats, creating a kind of organic fit. As Kelly, she brings a rural authenticity and human touch that are never better than when she plays to a Make-a- Wish kid named Travis.
It’s not easy to play opposite that, but McGraw does a credible job. He is such an appealing guy on screen, working an easy charm in a way that seems so effortless, it’s turning him into Hollywood’s good old boy of choice
Feste has the right instincts; she just doesn’t have the ease yet. The voice in “Country Strong,” though unsteady still, is distinctive enough, especially on the emotional notes, that you hope she figures out how to get it right.
“COUNTRY STRONG.”
PG-13 for thematic elements involving alcohol abuse and some sexual content. 1 hour, 52 minutes. Directed by Shana Feste; starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw. Opens today at area theaters.
