HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Loves, lives and ambitions collide in the high stakes world of big time country music stardom in the powerful, music-filled drama Country Strong.
Shaken by addiction and scandal, country music superstar Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow) takes a romantic shine to Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund), a talented young man with a guitar who works at the rehab facility where she’s recuperating. Their relationship, however, takes a difficult turn when the handsome singer-songwriter, satisfied with performing at small clubs and honky-tonks, suddenly finds himself thrust into Kelly’s topsy turvy world as she gears up for a return to her adoring fans. While Kelly thrives on rest (and Beau), her career-dedicated but romantically aloof husband/manager James (Tim McGraw) books a three-city comeback tour conceived as the key to his wife’s personal and professional recovery. Tensions flare when the plan calls for the tour to introduce James’ new protégée, an ambitious beauty-queen-turned-singer named Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester). Now deeply dependent on Beau, Kelly makes sure that her favorite newcomer gets a spot on the bill as well. As the quartet embarks on its fateful tour, romantic entanglements, dormant demons and the demands of showbiz threaten to derail all the players in this tale of modern Nashville.
Country Strong features original songs performed by Paltrow, Hedlund and Meester that were written for their characters by some of country music’s most notable composers and producers. Paltrow, who received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Shakespeare in Love, previously sang on film in Duets, directed by Bruce Paltrow. Hedlund (who played McGraw’s son in Friday Night Lights) most recently appeared in TRON: Legacy and Meester (television’s Gossip Girl) is featured in Screen Gems’ upcoming psychological thriller The Roommate. Country music star McGraw, who appears in Country Strong’s lead non-singing role, most recently co-starred with Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock in the hit The Blind Side. Acclaimed country music singer-songwriter and memoirist Marshall Chapman, makes her acting debut in the supporting role of Winnie, Kelly’s road manager—a witness powerless to stop the four-way collision.
