Picking Nits
Rehab janitor as sponsor; the husband's motives; Bo's feelings for Chiles; Bo's two-timing; Texas tour economics; Kelly left alone; tame implied sex; sleeping in jewelry; shared bed
In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:12Read transcript
- Pulled forward from picking nits: Kelly lands in rehab with a country prodigy who is a janitor and sponsor; with a large tour staff they could have brought a legitimate sponsor, since he is on stage whenever she falls apart.
- Why was Tim McGraw's character such a bad husband? Already covered.
- Did Bo like Chiles? The answer from a viewing companion (Craig) was yes, but it is confusing and the real-love-story ending was surprising.
- Counterpoint: Chiles is 22, good-looking and can sing, so why is a rehab janitor repulsed; reply: romantic comedies require initial dislike, and the outlaw cannot like the pageant queen.
- She is not made unlikable enough in the first 20 minutes to sustain his dislike, another reason it is a flawed rewatchable.
- Bo's character is the problem: an irresponsible sponsor who two-times Kelly and Chiles, presumably sleeping with Kelly and then meeting Chiles the same night.
- A three-city Texas tour of Houston, Austin and Dallas, with small venues in the first two and a giant set, does not seem economically feasible.
- Kelly, who needs constant care and daily pills, is left alone constantly: she gets drunk in town, kisses Bo in her dressing room and sleeps with JJ on the tour bus she shares with her husband.
- The hookups should be randier; the movie goes 80% of the way, with implied sex that fits Ebert's 1957 point, but in 2010 it needed sex scenes.
- Kelly sleeps in all her jewelry, including a diamond tennis necklace and cross, and wears a fur-trimmed coat throughout; her husband should unhook the necklace at night.
- Why are Kelly and her husband sleeping in the same bed at that point in their marriage? When she makes a move he says he took an Ambien.