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.

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.

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.

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.

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