Honestly, this was better than I thought it would be. I don't really like Gwyneth Paltrow and she's about the last person I think of when someone says "country music" but she doesn't do too badly.Kelly Canter is a country star with a drinking problem. She gets taken out of rehab early by her manager/husband, played by real life country star Tim McGraw (fun fact: the only person in the movie that doesn't sing is the guy with 21 number 1 singles). Kelly brings Beau (Garrett Hedlund), her sponsor, along with her on tour as an opening act. Her husband's choice is Chiles Stanton, who could be a pop country star if she could just get past her crippling stage fright.
All of these people are terribly damaged and two steps from falling apart at any given time. Especially Kelly, coping with her addiction, her increasingly hollow marriage, a faltering career, and the shadow of her last performance in Dallas where she tripped over a microphone while drunk and fell off the stage while five months pregnant. Hence the rehab.
I'm a little surprised this movie didn't get nominated for anything else. It seems to tick all the Academy boxes. The song it's nominated for isn't even the best one in the movie. They didn't even include it on the soundtrack, and it's not fully sung throughout the film if I remember correctly. "Timing is Everything" is definitely the showpiece. Garrett Hedlund makes a better country singer than light-disc player.
I don't want to spoil the ending except to say that it's not warm and fuzzy. I approved of this. It elevated the movie from sappy melodrama to actual drama.
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