The Movie
Right off the bat, be warned that there is quite a lot of music in Country Strong so it helps greatly to go in all down-home and countrified. But while vastly superior films such as Coal Miner's Daughter weave true tales populated by compelling real-life characters, Country Strong lays on the clichés mighty thick, the same-old melodrama of fame and booze and drugs and infidelity.
An unassuming young singer keeps his day job at a rehab facility, which brings him into the life of a country superstar (what's big-city gal Gwyneth Paltrow doing here?) who hit rock bottom a year ago. She's going back on stage, and bringing him with her, along with a former beauty queen with her own musical aspirations. We could say that this movie is about the passing of the torch, with occasional insight into the inner workings of the country music scene. Too bad we don't give a damn about any of these people.
There are only four main characters--the star, her cheatin' husband (Tim McGraw) and the two young'uns--and not a one is especially relatable or sympathetic, at best we can claim that they all become a little less asshole-y over the course of these two hours. And that oversight by writer/director Shana Feste (The Greatest) leaves the whole endeavor feeling rather unpleasant.
The Picture
I noted extremely rare instances of video streaking and the borderline onset of moiré in a shot or two, but in general this 2.4:1 master is clean and sharp throughout, with exceptional detail including one of the finest instances of the weave of cloth I can recall seeing on Blu-ray. This is a rather dark movie, with Tim McGraw's character dressing like he's Johnny Cash or something, and the shadows are quite rich and natural, surrendering ample picture information.
The Sound
The sonic quality of the performances varies from venue to venue, sometimes displaying a credible spontaneity in the smaller moments, other times tainted by that too-perfect movie fakeness. The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack does a good job establishing 360-degree space, with welcome little touches in the rears. The sound designers also perform some nifty tricks with the P.A. systems and concert audio and the crowds, and the high-resolution quality is impressive.
The Extras
In addition to BD-Live connectivity, the disc offers Sony's movieIQ access to the Gracenote online database, providing interactive, scene-specific onscreen info while the movie plays. It also serves up the Country Strong playlist of songs in the film. Frankly, an animated Cliché-O-Meter would have been more fun.
The four deleted scenes (four-and-a-half minutes total), the less-corny original ending (three minutes), and Gwyneth's extended performance of "Shake That Thing" from the final concert (four minutes) are in standard definition. The half-hour of Blu-ray-exclusive featurettes; about the cast, songwriters and costumes; and the pair of music videos are in HD.
Final Thoughts
The picture and sound could be described as Country Strong I suppose, but the script is just plain weak, and like a tour bus making the same stops as last year, this movie doesn't take us anyplace we haven't been before.
Product Details
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