Movie Review: Pure Country

On several occasions since we've been married, Leann has mentioned this movie and then expressed surprise that I'd never seen it. It is one of her family's favorite movies, so eventually I was obliged to watch it. In essence it's kind of a long music video for George Strait's country music album of the same name.[1] It's about a country music star, Wyatt Chandler (stage name 'Dusty'), who gets sick of the flash and pizazz of his tour and runs away, hoping to 'find himself'.[2]

My verdict: This isn't a movie for the ages. The concert scenes were too long, particularly at the beginning of the film (and it doesn't help that I dislike most country music—including George Strait's). The acting was functional and the characters are generally believable.[3] Aside from a few moments of surliness, Dusty is generally a good person. The plot was a sometimes hokey and sometimes cliché, but never overly so. So, while this wasn't a great movie, it was an okay one (which was more than I expected from a movie with a country music star in the lead role).

---

Notes:

[1] Even though this movie tanked at the box office, this fact didn't prevent George Strait's album from hitting number one on the country music charts. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure Country.

[2] I put this in quotes because I find the idea of 'finding yourself' or 'figuring out who you are' to be nonsensical—especially if you run away in order to do so.

[2] George Strait is a lot easier on the eyes once he ditches the beard and ponytail. Lesley Ann Warren (a.k.a. Ms. Scarlett from the movie Clue) sometimes looked like a human being and sometimes looked like death warmed over. She should avoid anyone named Ash Williams, Chris Redfield, or Jill Valentine.

Image attributions:

Colourful Cowboy Boots is by Dave Wilson, available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawilson/2598713027/.