Country Strong

Music Imitates Life

[Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, Leighton Meester]

image from celebrity-mania.com

RANT: Wanted to go see Country Strong, but needed to go to a different Regal theater much farther away from the house. I ended up at the outlet mall in Deer Park at a Regal theater with an IMAX theater. I asked the ticket taker if the IMAX was a true IMAX or an "IMAX Experience". He was unsure, but I was able to peek inside the theater. It was not a 6-story screen, but the sound system was definitely rocking!

SYNOPSIS: A drama focusing on the multi-city comeback tour of a country superstar after a stint in rehab, her husband/manager, and two up-and-coming acts trying to break it big in the business.

Reminding me of Robert Altman's Nashville, Loretta Lynn's biopic Coal Miner's Daughter and Jeff Bridges oscar-worthy Crazy Heart, Country Strong dramatizes the glamorous glitz and urban under belly of life on the road for a multi-Grammy winner legendary country artist trying to make a comeback after alcohol destroyed her performance in Dallas and her relationship with her husband/manager.

Following Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow) on her last day in rehab , her husband James pushes her to get back on the road to soon with a 3-city "encore" tour to get the momentum back to Kelly's career. Added to the tour bill per Kelly's request is young honky-tonk bar performer Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund from Tron: Legacy) and Kelly's sometime lover. As manager, James adds Texas pageant queen and aspiring country pop star Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) to the lineup.

Each character has their own baggage. Kelly emerges from rehab much to early, still needing to deal with her alcoholism and the loss of her unborn baby after an intoxicated fall from stage in Dallas. James, once a loving husband, is now a controlling manager desperate to have Kelly reclaim her place as the country legend she is - all the while failing to deal with Kelly as a wife or the loss of their unborn baby. Beau has the heart of gold to accompany his singing and songwriting skills, sometimes unsure of how far he should go in the industry. And finally, Chiles, focuses on the lights and stardom of the country stage, unable to put into shadow her childhood insecurities from a seemingly too-perfect youth.

Paltrow, McGraw, Hedlund and Meester all shine brightly in their own right. McGraw is an old 10-gallon hat when it comes to the strong, southern gentleman. Paltrow excludes the southern charm, hospitality and singing chops that she certainly honed in order to get her role of Fox's Glee. And Hedlund and Meester look they were plucked right out of line at the Grand Ole Opry. One specific moment that made the film for me was Kelly's Make a Wish Foundation appearance at a school for a young student named Travis. The scene showcased Kelly's vulnerability and her love for her music. Some of the plot is paced and placed for convenience, Kelly's alcoholism, for example, allowed to ebb and flow based on the need of the character and story.

The real star of the movie, though, is the music. With originals and country standards, every note is pitch perfect for its tone and story. I am sure at least one will make its way into the Oscar race as a nominee. The music hearkened back to my youth where I helped my father work on the car in the neighbor's garage, listening to his favorite country blues in a backless knob radio.

I enjoyed the film for what it is. The ending was obvious, even though it seemed to be the only course that would make sense. The acting is good, the music is better and the realization that fame does not necessarily buy happiness or love is just a common truth.

Worth: Matinee

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Tron: Legacy (3D)

Digital Revenge

[Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen]

image from geeky-gadgets.com

RANT: I reviewed the comments that I have received for previous reviews. One of the comments stated that I explained 127 Hours, but failed to really review it until the last paragraph. So, to the writer who remains anonymous, I will try to do better!

SYNOPSIS: After his father has been missing for several years, Sam Flynn is accidentally digitized into the Grid - a computer world his father recreated. Once there, both elder and younger Flynn must fight against Clu who has been programmed to create an Utopia.

Twenty-eight years ago, Disney released Tron, a movie that received lukewarm reception and box office. Although visually immersed and nominated for two Academy Awards (Sound, Costume), no one would have imagined that a sequel would or should be put into play. But Disney, a studio that decided that a amusement park ride about pirates would make a good film, sometimes knows better than the rest of us.

When Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, disappears, his son Sam, played by Garrett Hedlund, is left as the major stakeholder of software giant Encom. When Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner), a partner of Kevin Flynn, receives a page from Flynn's shutdown video arcade, Sam stumbles across his father's hidden office. Once at his father's desk, he is accidentally digitized and sent into the same computer world that his father disappeared into many years ago.

Parts Blade Runner, The Matrix, Hackers, Star Wars, Gladiator, and of course the original Tron,Tron: Legacy is a visually stunning science fiction adventure. The memory disks that the programs wear on their back are almost as cool as a light saber, and more functional than a Swiss army knife - especially during the gladiator battles. The light cycles, other vehicles on and off the Grid, and the Tron world are beautifully designed and executed. Clu, the command program Kevin Flynn creates to design and build an utopia society in his absence, is rendered perfectly in Jeff Bridges' own young image. My only complaint is that regardless of how far the CGI technology has come to create a young version of Bridges, as soon as the construct Clu opens his mouth to speak, you can see that the design studios still have a ways to go before perfection is achieved.

And perfection is what the program Clu is trying to achieve. Coded to create an utopia as Kevin Flynn saw it, Clu did as he was tasked. But in the pursuit of excellence, Utopian society looks something more akin to tyrannical oppression of anything other than conformity. What lengths will one go to in order to reach their goals?

The story is computer world cool, creating a world that is 600hz hi-def plasma perfect. All of the best elements of the original are brought well into the new millennium. If you liked the original, you will like this one as well. The plot is a little deeper, the spectacle a little bigger. The question will be whether the sequel will hold up to scrutiny better than the original.

Worth: Matinee or BluRay

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