‹ All movies
Country Strong poster

Country Strong

year 2010decade 10sdirector Shana Festegenre Dramagenre Music

117 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Gwyneth Paltrow Kelly Canter
Garrett Hedlund Beau Hutton
Tim McGraw James Canter
Leighton Meester Chiles Stanton
Lari White Hair Stylist
Gabe Sipos Travis
Lisa Stewart Travis' Mom
Cinda McCain Misty

Country Strong | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Amanda Dobbinsguest Liz Kelly format 10th Anniversary
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

What’s Aged the Best?

Unraveling-star comeback premise; "Kelly Canter and Jesus Christ" line; Gwyneth crying while talking; Kelly's death set to "Timing Is Everything"; fan's rock-bottom line; country music's celebrity crossover; Tim McGraw's side-stage face

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:38Read transcript
  • Pre-listed for aged best: stars get a finite number of chances to win back the public; Britney Spears had a limited comeback tour after her 2007 breakdown, and in 2020 it keeps happening, e.g. Demi Lovato.
  • The Britney Spears-type premise of an unraveling star whose team pushes her to stay famous.
  • The line "Who's your idol? Kelly Canter and Jesus Christ," delivered by Meester.
  • The speaker's wife's pick: nobody is better than Gwyneth at crying and talking at the same time; the other example offered was The Talented Mr. Ripley.
  • Kelly's death easing into the "Timing Is Everything" song with the hospital scene really works.
  • A fan interviewed before the Dallas concert says she has hit rock bottom and sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to realize what you have, an idea never explored again.
  • Country music's crossover with celebrity has aged well: Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton, country artists hanging out with the Kardashians and treated as general celebrities, Stagecoach and Bachelor Nation; Taylor Swift paved the way starting in 2010.
  • Tim McGraw's side-of-stage "so psyched she's killing it" half-smile face; he has one face in this movie.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:38:06Read transcript
  • Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars.
  • The quoted review calls Country Strong one of the best movies of 1957, meant sincerely as a compliment, contrasting it with Natalie Portman "mentally disemboweling herself for art," whom Ebert admired and expected to earn an Oscar nomination.
  • The review describes the film as a throwback 1950s melodrama built from stock elements: a depressed heroine, a manipulating husband, an ambivalent other man, and a young Eve Harrington waiting in the wings.
  • The review is praised as one of Ebert's best: the movie is old-school, released when movies were in their Black Swan stage.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Kelly's charity visit with Travis

In the discussion (19)
Approx. transcript time · 00:39:04Read transcript
  • First nominee: Kelly's first scene, workshopping "Timing Is Everything" with the sponsor; A Star Is Born may have borrowed the device of two people workshopping a song.
  • Asterisk on the sponsor: he is technically the janitor at the rehab facility, which raises HIPAA and rehab questions.
  • That scene establishes that Kelly is damaged but really talented, with a real connection to Bo, before Tim McGraw walks in with a suspicious look.
  • Nominee: Bo saves Chiles from bombing on stage by coming in with a guitar; he sounds great though not miked, but it is unclear whether he likes her.
  • Scenes where performers bomb on stage and nobody saves them are excruciating, and singing is awkward unless done really well, so the rescue is welcome. — Amanda Dobbins
  • Songs are played at length, making "Friends in Low Places" a sing-along and one of the movie's only happy moments.
  • Nominee: the on-stage duet between Bo and Chiles; every rewatchable scene involves a song, so the movie can be watched like a concert video, with songs better than usual for movies.
  • Not a single Star Is Born song comes to mind, while the Country Strong songs are still remembered after ten years; "Shallow" is offered as the famous one.
  • Actually singing rather than lip-syncing is a huge advantage; the Oscar for the Queen movie is criticized because its lead lip-synced, and a case for Val Kilmer in The Doors is disputed.
  • Nominee: Kelly's charity visit where she sings the new song "Travis"; called her Oscar scene, the scene that shows it is not a bad movie, with the cut to Tim McGraw showing she will never recover from losing the baby.
  • The Travis scene makes the speaker cry every time and is called a favorite; the child playing Travis is praised and it is the best expression of that plot line.
  • Nominee: backstage at the Dallas concert Kelly gives Chiles a list of advice, including never wearing satin on stage, avoiding laxatives and carbonated drinks on show days, wearing high heels, not worrying about writing her own songs, and never hiding anything from fans.
  • The advice scene is one of the only real interactions between the two women; it pays off their drunk van conversation where the younger singer asks if they are friends, and the reply from Kelly is no.
  • Nominee: Kelly's Dallas concert, framed as an older alcoholic Taylor Swift comeback; she says the title and raises her arm over her head like Taylor Swift's concert dancing.
  • Kelly's final-concert ponytail and curls look genuinely like Taylor Swift; Taylor was invited on the podcast and did not respond.
  • Nominee: the ending, when Bo brings Chiles on stage for a duet.
  • Final pick: Kelly finally on stage in Dallas doing the three-song set and saying "Country Strong," for its pure star power.
  • Final pick: the Travis scene, one of the few moments of joy in a very dark movie.
  • Final pick: the Travis scene as well; the speaker's wife, who watches the movie often, likes the near-end slow dance between Gwyneth and Tim McGraw among sick kids, where she drops Travis quickly.

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.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Where Bo's ranch is; who slept with whom; media reaction to Kelly's death; whether Kelly's husband leaves the music industry; how long Chiles stays with Bo

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:48Read transcript
  • Pulled forward: where is the ranch with a beach and a small-town Saturday-night gig, and why leave a 10-city tour with a big-name celebrity for it?
  • Location guesses range from deep Malibu or Topanga Canyon with drives to Sunset, to the Central Coast, San Bernardino and Oxnard; "we're not supposed to know."
  • Did Bo ever sleep with Kelly, and was her husband sleeping with Chiles? It is insinuated but unclear.
  • How did the media react to Kelly's death? A six-month-plus investigation and murder conspiracies, JJ talking to TMZ, and fans sharing stories; a second season could cover the fallout.
  • Does her husband leave the music industry? The hope is yes, since he effectively killed his only client.
  • How long does Chiles stay with Bo in Oxnard? Maybe three or four weeks; she becomes a tabloid fixture, dates Bo for publicity, and by 2020 judges The Voice, or worst case appears on The Bachelor.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Tim McGraw's underwritten husband; dismissal of Chiles's pop crossover; no social media for Kelly's drunk bar performance; Bo's disheveled oversized clothes; dry-bar barrel-curl hair and 2010 styling; the reviews

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:18Read transcript
  • The movie is dismissive of the Leighton Meester character going outside country music to find success, which is dead wrong about how the last ten years worked.
  • Tim McGraw is given little to work with: an unlikable character with confusing motivation, 100% responsible for his wife's death.
  • The character needed more on stage as a former star, or a recast; there is little chemistry and it is hard to believe they were married.
  • Dissent: one host bought the marriage and says they watch the whole movie with rose-colored lenses.
  • He flirts with Meester and visits her hotel room, though he is not cheating on Kelly, who sleeps with others including her tour manager.
  • Alternative fixes: make him cartoonishly evil like the Shawshank warden, or a former country star who lost his voice and sings with her near the end; the Star Is Born formula works.
  • No social media for Kelly's drunk bar performance, though there were cell phones in 2010.
  • A proposal to make Kelly 25% drunker and meaner is contested since she already hits Tim McGraw; others agree the movie keeps the safety rails on, e.g. her tour-manager hookup stays clothed.
  • The speaker's wife's note: Bo's disheveled oversized clothes.
  • Contender: the dry-bar hair of side part, straightened bangs and big barrel curls, which the speaker wore to every dance for the next six years.
  • The hair is of the dry-bar moment and also a country-music aesthetic of tall blonde women such as Carrie Underwood and Faith Hill. — Amanda Dobbins
  • Gwyneth goes from straight hair to full barrel curls within two minutes, a two-hour process; tiny bandage dresses, peplum and heavy under-eye liner are circa 2010.
  • The reviews: a Guardian quote mocks Paltrow singing her own material in a self-indulgent movie, and a New York Times quote finds her seriously miscast as an unreformed alcoholic with a thin, serviceable voice.
  • A Hollywood Reporter quote: cliches plucked from country lyrics fuel an unconvincing show-business story that is hard to synopsize.
  • A Boston Globe quote: the film ends nine times, and Festi mistook her protagonist for Lindsay Lohan or Courtney Love; its writer, Wesley Morris, has since warmed to the movie.

Casting What-Ifs

Skipped: no casting what-ifs found

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:51Read transcript
  • Casting what-ifs could not be found; little information about this movie exists.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Kelly's tour manager

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:29Read transcript
  • Pick: the creepy tour manager Kelly was sleeping with when Garrett Hedlund walks in; the picker does not know his name but has seen him in other things.
  • Question about the category: prepped by the show's producer, the asker first wrote down Tim McGraw and was told that is not a that guy; the reply is that he is Tim McGraw.
  • This is a hard movie for side-character categories because it is dominated by four people.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

The baby bird

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:34Read transcript
  • Pick: the bird.
  • In rehab Kelly takes in a baby bird whose mother never came, and keeps it in a tiny lidded box in total darkness with sawdust, cruel for someone with her resources.
  • The bird is passed around: Tim McGraw carries it into a loud honky-tonk bar while scouting, with Bo pointing out it seems hungry, and it is thrashed around in the car.
  • How long can a tiny bird survive in a box? The speaker is no bird expert and is afraid of birds.
  • Gwyneth occasionally pops the box open, gives two pets and pushes it back, when birds need warmth and more to survive.
  • The bird is treated like a pet young kids lose interest in within three minutes; the bird gets the Dion Waiters award.

Recasting Couch

New generational-rival character for Kelly; Faith Hill in the role

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:43Read transcript
  • Going off the board: create a new character, a successful generational rival for Kelly, seen in one or two scenes being condescendingly friendly, played by a famous country star or actress; this would solve the Dion Waiters Award and the recasting couch. — Bill Simmons
  • Objection: Leighton Meester is already the rival; reply: she is the younger rival, while this is the rival from Kelly's own generation.
  • Support: the rival must be successful and really mean, e.g. apologizing for not reaching out after the baby died but saying they were praying for her.
  • Aside: the Leighton Meester character is likable, though she could be recast.
  • Objection: the rival would send Kelly over the edge faster; she already lost it when Chiles took her song.
  • Suggestion: a cameo for Reba ten years ago, followed by "I don't know."
  • Suggestion: Carrie Underwood if you want a country star; objected to as too young, conceded as a thought about remaking it now. — Amanda Dobbins
  • Faith Hill is proposed and seconded: Tim McGraw brings her on set; she looks a bit like Kelly but has her life together.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Hedlund's karaoke audition and country training; Paltrow emailing Robert Downey Jr.; Hedlund and McGraw's Friday Night Lights history; Hedlund crying off-camera; Paltrow losing Kelly Taylor to Jennie Garth; Paltrow turning down The Ring; Paltrow learning guitar; Meester's mother's prison birth

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:39Read transcript
  • Garrett Hedlund auditioned at a Koreatown karaoke bar singing Pearl Jam's "Better Man."
  • The director said he took four months off, learned guitar, took voice lessons and went to Nashville early to work with producers.
  • Paltrow emailed her Iron Man castmate Robert Downey Jr. to understand addiction and rehab, and he wrote back an amazing email; some would find that pretentious.
  • Garrett Hedlund and Tim McGraw noted they had been in Friday Night Lights together.
  • The director said that in the Dallas goodbye scene, shot on Gwyneth's side first with the camera on the back of Garrett's head, Garrett cried for her performance.
  • Paltrow lost the Kelly Taylor role on 90210 to Jennie Garth.
  • She would have been an amazing Kelly Taylor, though she probably would have left after about four seasons. — Bill Simmons
  • She turned down The Ring in 2002; her filmography lacks a good horror movie about a house with something wrong with it.
  • Paltrow learned guitar from scratch over several months, and Chris Martin told her she played better than U2's frontman, though her playing in the movie is not great. — Liz Kelly
  • Leighton Meester's real mother gave birth to her as a prison inmate, and her character's mother is also in prison. — Liz Kelly

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

10-episode Netflix series

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:47Read transcript
  • A sprawling 10-episode show would work better than the movie: a cliffhanger with her rushed to the hospital, new characters like the rival, and more sex and debauchery.
  • Objection: fatigue from watching her relapse every episode; conceded, with a suggestion she is stable from episodes three to seven.
  • Nashville, starting in 2012 with Connie Britton as the fading country star and Hayden Panettiere as the rising Taylor Swift figure, had a similar setup; its first season was good, and this could definitely be remade as a Netflix show.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:23Read transcript
  • First answer: Gwyneth, an answer "we all know" was coming; a self-described Gwyneth partisan follows (speaker unresolved).
  • After clarifying that the question is simply who won the movie rather than who got praise afterward, the answer is Gwyneth, the only one who got praise.
  • Case for Garrett Hedlund: Gwyneth is known to be great and this is not among her first eight to ten roles, while it is hard to watch and not wonder why he was not a bigger star.
  • The Hedlund vote is outvoted because both others said Gwyneth.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Gwyneth Paltrow
Speaker not identified
Gwyneth Paltrow
Speaker not identified
Garrett Hedlund

More from the conversation

A teaser calls this the most flawed Rewatchables ever, noting people internally questioned choosing Country Strong.
Approx. transcript time · 00:00:00Read transcript
Introductions: Amanda Dobbins is heard on The Big Picture and a session on the Ringer-Dish podcast, where Liz Kelly does Tea Time, a speaker's daughter's favorite podcast.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:35Read transcript
Framing: critically semi-savaged and barely making its money back, the movie became rewatchable over ten years for a specific demographic including two of the hosts and the speaker's wife; Liz Kelly said A Star Is Born ripped off Country Strong.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:48Read transcript
Asked to start, Liz Kelly says Country Strong is better than A Star Is Born; she refused to watch the newer film for a year and found this one just as good on rewatch.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:22Read transcript
Hedlund's performance is judged not the model for Bradley Cooper; the movie is not better than A Star Is Born but is more pop-culturally interesting for four stars at interesting career points.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:23Read transcript
Why movies make or miss: people were tired of Gwyneth Paltrow in 2010, while Natalie Portman in Black Swan, a better movie, got everyone's support; this is more rewatchable.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:31Read transcript
Gwyneth backlash history: Goop launched in 2008, Gawker-era blog culture, her 1995-2001 run of about 15 movies, Brad Pitt and Affleck, her Shakespeare in Love Oscar speech, Chris Martin and Coldplay, naming a child Apple, Iron Man.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:07Read transcript
A case that she is one of the five best actors of the last 25 years; a patrician, Grace Kelly quality rubbed some the wrong way; A Perfect Murder is underrated; quitting helps crystallize her run.
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:16Read transcript
Liz Kelly came to Paltrow through Shakespeare in Love, Emma and especially Glee, and thinks she is a phenomenal singer.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:37Read transcript
Duets is a train wreck with good scenes with Huey Lewis; Paltrow got a CMA standing ovation singing from this movie; Glee was the successful version of the same experiment.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:42Read transcript
Wesley Morris's Paltrow appreciation piece is quoted; under-35 actresses with similar star quality include Saoirse Ronan, Emma Stone and Margot Robbie.
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:29Read transcript
Paltrow reportedly went for Titanic before Kate Winslet was cast; the hosts imagine the alternate career and conclude it worked out as it should have.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:50Read transcript
The 2010 Best Actress field: Natalie Portman won for Black Swan over Annette Bening, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Williams and Nicole Kidman.
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:18Read transcript
Garrett Hedlund's fork-in-the-road career: Friday Night Lights and Troy, Four Brothers, Georgia Rule, Tron and Country Strong, Triple Frontier; losing parts to Chris Evans and Chris Pratt.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:07Read transcript
Hedlund is called a bad-luck career guy: the Friday Night Lights TV show erased his movie performance; he sings with his real voice; the host is buying stock in a late-bloomer turn like George Clooney.
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:17Read transcript
Leighton Meester, then on Gossip Girl, is a Taylor Swift-esque character; Gwyneth's character looks like an older Taylor Swift.
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:59Read transcript
Tim McGraw does not sing in the movie, called its fatal flaw; he should have been a former singer who duets with Gwyneth.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:52Read transcript
Writer-director Shana Feste wrote The Greatest, worked as a nanny for Tobey Maguire, who agreed to co-produce, and for Courtney Love; she finished the script when Michael Jackson died.
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:21Read transcript
The best idea is showing a team keeping a clearly self-destructing star on tour for the money, which is why it is a flawed rewatchable; the TMZ-era media angle could have been explored more.
Approx. transcript time · 00:33:07Read transcript
The biggest flaw: her husband supposedly loves her but sends her on a tour he knows is horrendous for her, with no scene explaining why.
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:32Read transcript
The movie follows Coal Miner's Daughter, Tender Mercies, Walk the Line and Crazy Heart; the episode cites a $50 million budget and $20 million gross; "Coming Home" was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song and lost to a Toy Story 3 song.
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:29Read transcript
Rotten Tomatoes gives it 22%; the up-or-down score may bake in sexism against this kind of movie.
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:18Read transcript
After casting what-ifs, a blog post is joked to be a young Liz Kelly's review; she says the movie has been her Ringer identity for four and a half years.
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:51Read transcript
The episode marks the movie's 10-year anniversary, and the pick surprised Liz Kelly.
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:57Read transcript
Country Strong is framed as Paltrow's last major movie role, followed by an indie addiction movie with Mark Ruffalo, Goop and Brad Falchuk projects; the hosts want a Contender-style adult role.
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:51Read transcript
Country Strong is free on Amazon Prime.
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:03Read transcript
Closing: Liz Kelly is congratulated on finally doing it; plugs for Tea Time, Jam Session and The Big Picture; a bigger movie next week.
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:28Read transcript