Country Strong

I didn't have a burning desire to see Country Strong, but when my aunt asked me to go, I said yes pretty easily.  The movie looked like it might be bland and predictable, but I usually enjoy a comeback story, especially one featuring catchy tunes.  Who doesn't like a good comeback story, right?

Answer: The people who made Country Strong!

I don't feel like it's a spoiler to let this cat out of the bag, since I really feel like the marketing of the movie indicates that this will be an inspiring comeback tale, and it's really not. 

What is it?  In short: A hot mess.

Before I get into the bad stuff, some good things:

• Gwyneth Paltrow gives a good performance as a brittle, falling-apart, desperate country singer working at a comeback she's not ready for.  The praise does come with a bit of a caveat - she sings well, but lacks the ease when performing onstage that you'd expect of the kind of performer she's playing. You could make the argument that the stiffness works with her character's "journey" and all that, but the truth is that I found her the least believable when she was supposed to be the most comfortable.  The moments when she melted down onstage worked far better for me than the scenes when she supposedly triumphed.  But really that's a minor complaint, since what she does in her other scenes makes up for that stiffness. Most of all she impressed me with her ability to access a kind of desperate vulnerability, a raw neediness, that made her the most interesting part of the movie.  Which makes the fact that she's not really the focus of the movie all the more frustrating!
• Some of the music sounds all right - Country Strong in particular turns out to be super catchy, and a catchy tune should be commended.  
• I coveted one of the sweaters Gwyneth wore in a couple of scenes. 

The bad things:

• Pretty much everything else.

I spent a lot of time on the drive home trying to figure out why the movie didn't work.  Was it the ridiculously blatant symbolism of this stupid baby bird being cared for over the course of the movie? Was it the fact that I found the character I was supposed to identify with and love and follow through the movie - Beau, played by Garrett Hedlund- unlikable and irritating?  Was it the movie's lack of focus and tremendously unsatisfying ending, or its tremendously cynical and shallow approach to people dealing with substance abuse problems? Or ALL OF THOSE THINGS?

Most of all the movie frustrated me because it had the potential to be a more successful movie.  Capable actors, decent singers, a premise that's worked before.  But at every turn it felt like the screenwriter/director/whoever-called-the-shots took what s/he thought would be the most unexpected/daring/dark choice instead of the choice that would be the most meaningful or truthful.  The ending in particular didn't work for me, and since I haven't decided how I'm going to deal with spoilers here, I'll just say that it left a bad taste in my mouth to the point that I found myself actively telling people I knew not to see it, which I almost never do.  That's how much it disappointed me.