COUNTRY STRONG
3 out of 5 stars

funny how when i actually have low expectations for a movie, i end up liking it! :O (LOVE the fact that it's set in the great state of TX!)  anyway, decided to give GOOP a try, as she plays a washed-up country singer, trying to make a comeback after several months in rehab...

i actually think this movie is the reason why gweneth got a role on glee in the first place! as i said: GOOP stars as washed-up/disgraced country music star, kelly canter, who checks out of rehab early to go on tour in the name of kick-starting her career again. nearly a year ago, kelly had fallen off stage drunk at a dallas concert, killing her unborn child with the fall... james canter (tim mcgraw), her manager and husband is over-bearing and controlling, esp. when kelly falls for young country music star beau hutton. (friday night lights’ garrett hedlund) she actually discovers beau’s talent while in rehab, and goes along as an opening act for kelly’s tour. but guess who else gets to go on tour with kelly too? gossip girl’s blair waldorf! well, not her exactly, but leighton meester with a horrible southern accent! she plays beauty queen turned country pop star chiles stanton, whose got the hots for beau and possibly for james...? so, will kelly make her big comeback? kind of obvious but the performance kelly gives is actually quite inspiring/good... ;)

extra star for garrett hedlund b/c that boy is FOINE esp. in that plaid... :P i thought this was decent enough, but needed to be more raw and more dramatic. maybe even racier esp. since this is afterall about the music industry, right? sex, drug, and country music, dammit!!! I WANT MORE OF IT ALL. is that too much to ask? enough of this PG-13 shit... if you’re gonna portray a tortured singer, might as well go ALL THE WAY... ;)