Country Strong Reviews

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Micheal Compton
Bowling Green Daily News
May 8, 2019
Somewhere deep inside this Gwyneth Paltrow vehicle there is a quality movie with some challenging subject matter. But that promise was glossed over by a film that tries too hard to be nice and not offend its target audience.
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Brandy McDonnell
The Oklahoman
August 15, 2018
The story is too clunky and overstuffed, and its flaws are even more glaring when spotlighted against stellar country music dramas.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4
Roger Moore
Movie Nation
January 23, 2013
A little like modern country music - odd moments of sincerity, heart and authenticity peek through the plastic, the hype and the manufactured hokum.
Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4
Neil Pond
American Profile
September 9, 2011
This canned corn falls far short of the inspiring story of triumph and tragedy it wants viewers to buy.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5
Robert Denerstein
Movie Habit
August 12, 2011
Not exactly brimming with the essence of country music
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David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
April 15, 2011
...Country Strong's downfall stems from its almost egregiously deliberate pace...
Full Review | Original Score: 2/4
Dave White
Movies.com
April 4, 2011
It's got enough melodrama and full-volume diva-meltdown histrionics to blow a movie like Burlesque out of the water.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5
Nick Pinkerton
Sight and Sound
March 29, 2011
If McGraw had been armed with a microphone, perhaps the movie could have gained something in symmetry; if Kelly had a grounding in social history, perhaps she could better be believed.
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Top Critic
Philip French
Guardian
March 28, 2011
The movie has its moments, but the characters are fuzzy around the edges...
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Jason Best
Movie Talk
March 25, 2011
Paltrow is a poster girl for the virtues of yoga and a macrobiotic diet - which makes her far too healthy-looking to play the troubled, booze-sodden singer at the heart of [this] sudsy romantic melodrama.
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Top Critic
David Sexton
London Evening Standard
March 25, 2011
No saving grace here.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5
Anthony Quinn
Independent (UK)
March 25, 2011
The good news is that Paltrow can sing; the bad news is the mawkish and one-paced drama she's playing in.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail (UK)
March 24, 2011
This is a cheesy soap opera that dearly wants to be a country and western All About Eve. The songs aren't too bad; the dialogue is.
Full Review | Original Score: 1/5
Top Critic
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
March 24, 2011
For me it's a no.
Full Review | Original Score: 1/5
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
March 24, 2011
I hated, loved, hated the movie. In that order.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
March 24, 2011
Even a Paltrow fan (I remain one) would have to concede that her willowy frame and perfect skin do not betray a lifetime of vodka-swilling and throwing up in hillbilly bars.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5
Top Critic
Jason Goodyer
Little White Lies
March 24, 2011
As predictable and soulless as an over-produced country power ballad.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5
Terry Staunton
Radio Times
March 24, 2011
Writer/director Shana Feste is clearly indebted to the Oscar-winning Crazy Heart and Robert Altman's epic Nashville, but the script all too often stumbles into mediocre soap-opera territory.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
March 23, 2011
Disappointing country music drama that fails to hit the required emotional high notes, thanks to a confused, clich-riddled script, poor direction and an unconvincing performance from a badly miscast Gwyneth Paltrow.
Full Review | Original Score: 1/5
Top Critic
Cath Clarke
Time Out
March 23, 2011
Paltrow gives it her best but is so conspicuously doing country. We're meant to believe she has spent half her life staring into a vodka bottle, but she glows like she's just stepped out of a yoga retreat.
Full Review | Original Score: 1/5
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