Country Strong

January 8.

So, here I am, bored to tears, watching my first mess of a movie of the year, Country Strong. It isn't long exactly, but it does feel like it won't end.

There are too many main characters - Gwyneth, a country super star fresh out of rehab; McGraw, her asshole of a husband and manager; and the two young wannabes along for the ride. The writer really should have picked whose story this was before trying to jam all their lives down our throats. As the story builds it feels forced and phony. This is not at all like last year's successful movie about a washed up, drunk country star - Crazy Heart, which was authentic and raw.

Country Strong moves along quickly, it has to in order to fit it all in. Alcoholism, dead babies, affairs, parents in prison, lies, music - this movie has it all. The story isn't unfolding as much as is being thrown at us. The scenes don't build and reveal secrets slowly, they just spat out some issue and then the next scene spats out something new and unbelievable. And even without any build up everything is completely predictable.

I don't really like any of the characters but the secondary leads are better than Tim and Gwyneth. It is weird watching Blair Waldorf sing country music, but she's not bad. The young, sweet country crooner, who prefers singing in honky-tonks to good people who just want to hear some good music while they drink their beer, is cute, but his facial hair is distracting. It's long and straight and grows in patches. He needs to shave.

The end came just in time with a big, sad, to some, dramatic finale that, again, is predictable even though there isn't any preparation for it.

Rating: Hate

The Runaways

April 10.

"The Runaways" was completely underwhelming. The first quarter of the movie, about the 70s all-girl rock band, was promising. But the story and bad acting (by Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie) weighed the too-long story down.

I wanted so much to care about how the girls turned out but couldn't. Stewart did look a lot like Jett, but that wasn't enough to keep me interested. Fanning is probably a better actress but I cared even less about Currie's story. And, the film focused on her too much.

The only good part of the movie was the ridiculous hair, makeup, and clothes worn by everyone, especially band-manager, Kim Fowley (played by Michael Shannon). He had a different crazy look in every scene.

Crazy Heart

February 6.

Jeff Bridges will always be The Dude to me, but I have to admit he was great as Bad Blake, the faded country star. He's probably going to win an Oscar for the role, and he should. The character lived a hard, selfish life and now at 57 he's on the road playing small bars and bowling alleys (I was looking for Donnie and Walter while he was there) to a handful of people.

In addition to an amazing performance, he sang all his own songs, as did Colin Farrell who plays Bad's former touring partner Tommy Sweet. Tommy is hot (obviously), successful, and famous, which makes Bad look even more depressed.

Maggie Gyllenhaal (one of my favorite actresses), who played Bad's love interest, gave me hope for Bad's future. He seemed to want to change to be with her and was great with her son, Buddy.

I don't think there are any big twists, you can probably guess how the chain-smoking alcoholic turns out, but the performances are amazing. Robert Duvall, who plays Bad's father, only has a few scenes but they are full of wisdom.