Country Strong (2010)

Nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes because of the song "Coming Home," but not for acting. A good movie for music/musical month but definitely not a musical. There are some good country songs by Beau [Garrett Hedlund], Kelly [Gwyneth Paltrow], and Chiles [Leighton Meester].

I was shocked to find that this movie had such a low imdb score [5.7 while writing this review] because I really liked the movie. I guess I have much different taste in music related films because I really did like Crazy Heart [6/10 with a 7.4 imdb average] and it won some significant Oscars last year.

The film centers around Paltrow's character who is a multiple Grammy winner who is currently in rehab. She is trying to prepare for a comeback while Beau and Chiles are starting their career. The interaction between Chiles and Kelly is likened to a modern All About Eve. But the better parts of the movie for me involved Tim McGraw, who to me is really starting to show he is a serious actor. I have enjoyed him in both this and The Blind Side.

Maybe not for everyone, and maybe a little sappy at times, but I found it to be much better than I was expecting going into it.

Vote: 9/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1555064/

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