Country Strong

  To be honest, I wasn't sure how this was going to be.  It didn't do to well in theaters & there wasn't a lot of talk about it but I decided to get it from the library.  Surprise, surprise I actually really enjoyed it.  It wasn't the greatest thing I've ever seen & it had its flaws but overall it was pretty decent.  The best part of it for me was the music though.  It had a really great soundtrack & all the stars in it did their own singing.  Gwyneth Paltrow plays a famous country singer just getting out of rehab & heading back out on tour with her husband, played by Tim McGraw.  His performance was ok, nothing worth writing home about & Gwyneth Paltrow was decent but her character became pretty annoying pretty quick & it made her unlikeable.
   In my opinion, this movie was carried by what seemed to be the supporting characters played by Garrett Hedlund & Leighton Meester who also go on tour with Paltrow.  The way their roles played out they almost seemed to be the main stars rather than Gwyneth Paltow as it was advertised.  Like I said, the music was probably the best part of the movie.  Garrett Hedlund had a lot of good songs that he sang himself & same with Leighton Meester & the best part about that was that I didn't know either of them could sing so that was a nice surprise.  They also did a duet on a song called "Give in to Me" & I LOVED that song & immediately went & bought it on itunes.  I especially loved the chemistry between these two & like I said, they really carried the movie & I wish they would have gotten more attention for their roles rather than just put all of it on Gwyneth.
   The ending of the movie did not play out at all how I expected & that was a bit of a bummer so if you plan on seeing it just prepare yourself for somewhat of a surprise ending.  All in all, I would suggest it, if not for the movie then for the music!

PS:  HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!  HOPE IT'S FABULOUS & BRINGS YOU LOTS OF LUCK, LOVE, HEALTH & HAPPINESS!!

XO, Lauren