Country Strong (**3/4)

Some may forget Gwyneth Paltrow’s singing “Bette Davis Eyes” and Cruisin’ (a hit pairing her with Huey Lewis) on the Duets soundtrack in 2000. Evidently, Paltrow had the urge to do it (though not duet) again, this time as alcoholic country-music star Kelly Canter in this likeable melodrama. She’s not the only singing actor in the film. Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) plays an up-and-comer with stage fright. Musically, her character’s a bit like Taylor Swift, but her voice is better. And Garrett Hedlund has such a fine baritone that I was surprised that his background was in acting. (Clearly, I failed to take note of him in Troy, Friday Night Lights, Eragon, or Georgia Rule, and didn’t see his concurrent role in Tron:Legacy.) Although set in the world of country music, writer-director Shana Feste’s (The Greatest) subject, broadly, is the price of fame. Roughly, the plot resembles A Star Is Born, the 1976 Barbra Streisand version, except that Paltrow takes Kris Kristofferson’s role of the self-destructive superstar.

Paltrow ably conveys a wide range of emotions, but the problem is that we never have an idea where they all come from. Maybe what Kelly says in the film is true, that you can have love and fame but not both, but Feste didn’t quite sell me on the point. Probably the movie would’ve made more sense if it began with her arrival at rehab rather than her premature departure. It isn’t clear exactly how fame has ruined her or her relationship with her manager-husband (actual country star Tim McGraw, who only sings on the soundtrack). I did like the performing scenes though, and not just because the songs are good, but because in these characters you really get the sense of how the performer feeds off of the audience—or fears it, in the case of Meester’s character. As for the ending, I had the same issue as with The Greatest, a drama about how a teen’s death impacts his family. As with that film, a little more subtlety would’ve improved it. Recommended, then, for those who will enjoy the tunes and overlook the unfocused narrative.

viewed 1/5/11 at Ritz 5 [PFS screening] and reviewed 1/5/11