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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.

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.

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.

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.

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
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Gwyneth Paltrow
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Gwyneth Paltrow
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Garrett Hedlund