Country Strong: Critic Reviews

73%

MovieWeb: 2 reviews

21%

RottenTomatoes: 125 reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic)

50

It shows that Gwyneth knows the spangly high-powered joys of country music. Too bad that in Country Strong, she's too busy acting out the hysterical and mostly nonsensical sorrows.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Manohla Dargis New York Times (Top Critic)

50

It's too bad that Ms. Feste didn't ditch the female victim bit and make a movie about a survivor.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Philip French Guardian [UK] (Top Critic)

The movie has its moments, but the characters are fuzzy around the edges...
Full Review » 1 year ago
Peter Bradshaw Guardian [UK] (Top Critic)

20

For me it's a no.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Claudia Puig USA Today (Top Critic)

63

Most of the effort seems to have gone into the original music, which is pleasant but not memorable, and too little on creating believable, multidimensional characters.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Jen Chaney Washington Post (Top Critic)

38

[A] disjointed drama filled with one-dimensional characters and melodrama so Lifetime movie-esque that it careens into unintentional comedy.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Wesley Morris Boston Globe (Top Critic)

50

"Country Strong" is a title that calls to mind a pickup truck. Only in a work of science-fiction would it suffice as a description of Gwyneth Paltrow.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Elizabeth Weitzman New York Daily News (Top Critic)

60

What saves "Country Strong" from drowning in its own tears are the leads, all four of whom imbue Feste's unabashedly cliched script with some genuine humanity.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Joe Morgenstern Wall Street Journal (Top Critic)

"Country Strong" comes to spontaneous life from time to time, despite maudlin devices and manipulative set pieces.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Amy Biancolli Houston Chronicle (Top Critic)

63

Country Strong has a bit more to recommend it -- the music most of all -- but it's still a tough slog through emotional swamplands.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Tom Maurstad Dallas Morning News (Top Critic)

40

If the point of Country Strong was to prove that Gwyneth Paltrow can sing, then mission accomplished. You don't need to sit through this two-hour melodrama to confirm that.
Full Review » 1 year ago
James Rocchi MSN Movies (Top Critic)

50

Country Strong stumbles, and has some slack in its silences, but it takes its world, characters and songcraft seriously...
Full Review » 1 year ago
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times (Top Critic)

63

"Country Strong" is one of the best movies of 1957, and I mean that sincerely as a compliment.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune (Top Critic)

50

The movie's well-acted. Almost everything else about "Country Strong" is weak.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Andrea Gronvall Chicago Reader (Top Critic)

Shana Feste's screenplay seldom rises above the level of daytime TV; the only actor who triumphs over her trite dialogue is Tim McGraw in a nonsinging role as Paltrow's husband and manager.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer (Top Critic)

63

While Paltrow belts out the title anthem with conviction, it is the younger performers who sing more intimate, and moving, numbers that advance the story rather than merely stating it.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Colin Covert Minneapolis Star Tribune (Top Critic)

25

If you're going to make a bad film, at least make it short.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Adam Graham Detroit News (Top Critic)

50

[A] mixed bag of a country music comeback fable.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic (Top Critic)

40

Several good performances are left adrift, as the characters roam from scene to scene, singing (quite well) as they go. Even as a sort of long-form music video, it's disjointed.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Justin Chang Variety (Top Critic)

That rare ensemble piece in which all four principals are not only compellingly drawn but handled with an astute sense of dramatic balance.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Kyle Smith New York Post (Top Critic)

50

Patsy Cline. Loretta Lynn. Gwyneth Paltrow.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Roger Moore Orlando Sentinel (Top Critic)

38

"Country Strong" is 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 » 1 year ago
Peter Howell Toronto Star (Top Critic)

38

The many tunes in Country Strong are of such astounding banality, it's as if they were written by caged chimps as they were driven through Nashville on the way to a medical research lab.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Laremy Legel Film.com (Top Critic)

59

If you like a spectacle, whoo boy, you have found your perfect match.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Kate Taylor Globe and Mail (Top Critic)

50

Feste struggles mightily to instill meaning and grandeur in Country Strong, but her initial efforts to sidestep cliche often result in confusion before she simply gives up and opts for melodrama.
Full Review » 1 year ago