Country Strong (2010)

Fame can lift you to incredible heights, but it can also take a heavy toll on the people and the love that got you there. Shana Feste's "Country Strong" stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Kelly Canter, a six-time Grammy-winning country superstar whose career and personal life have been derailed by alcoholism. While finishing a stay in rehab, Kelly strikes up a romance with Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund), an admiring orderly and aspiring singer-songwriter who plays in local honky-tonks. When her husband and manager, James (Tim McGraw), arrives, Beau covers by claiming to be her "sponsor." Eager to revive her career, James checks Kelly out of rehab early and sends her back on the road for a comeback tour. He clearly loves his wife, but he doesn't know when to stop pushing. After hearing Beau perform a duet with former beauty queen and rising singer Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester), James adds both of them to the bill as opening acts. As the tour winds from Tennessee to Texas, Beau discovers that Chiles is far more talented and intelligent than he first assumed. Still, he remains devoted to Kelly, even as he realizes they have no future together. When Kelly begins drinking again, Beau finds himself drawn to his more grounded tourmate. Feste doesn't argue that love and work can't coexist; instead, she suggests that love and fame are fundamentally incompatible. That's a shaky premise on which to build a film, especially when McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill - one of Paltrow's musical inspirations - are proof otherwise. As a result, the story stumbles in its final act, when someone has to suffer to prove the point. Until then, the cast rises to the occasion, and Paltrow does her own singing with surprising conviction. Meester is the standout, bringing breezy charm to an otherwise gloomy premise. Country music fans will enjoy the soundtrack.