For reasons I don't quite understand -- but, frankly, lead me to expect the worst -- Country Strong, the musical drama starring Gwyneth Paltrow as a troubled country music superstar and Tim McGraw as her anxious manager-husband, is rapidly approaching its year-end release date with a conspicuous lack of hype and hoopla. At one point, there was some loose talk about Paltrow's potential as a Best Actress contender. But now? Well, I can't say I've heard any of that talk for quite some time. On the other hand, I have heard Paltrow on the Country Strong
soundtrack CD -- which also features some Grade-A cuts by Sara Evans, Faith Hill, Trace Adkins and Hank Williams Jr. -- and she certainly sounds convincing as a contemporary country artist. Better still, as you can see in above music video, she looks the part as well. That, along with the fact that Country Strong was directed by Shana Feste, whose criminally under-rated drama The Greatest
was one of my favorite offerings at the 2010 Nashville Film Festival, gives me at least some reason to hope that we all have a pleasant surprise in store for us.
