Movie of the Week: Pure Country

   

    Movie of the Week (3/23/14-3/29/14): I'm not sure if many of you all knew this, but back in 1992 the King of Country released himself a movie about country music. That's right George Strait filmed a movie, now as great as a musician that he is, we definitely knew that the movie would have a great soundtrack. As for King George himself, well we'll get to that in a few. This movie that he made was what you would call a "feel good" movie because it was about his character trying to find his true country roots again. And we get to watch him go to some very nice classic country places to do it in, Pure Country.
    Dusty Chandler is a huge country star with shows that will blow you away...and that's the problem. Somewhere along the line of his career Dusty lost sight of his country roots and the classic country concert. He ends up feeling lost in himself and then one day decides to up and leave to find it. He walks down the highway to his old stomping grounds, where everything started for him. He goes back to his grandmothers house where his first guitar is still hanging on her wall, to an old dance hall, and to a ranch where he ends up finding love and his true country roots.
    Pretty much the only person most people will know is George Strait, who plays Dusty Chandler, although a young Kyle Chandler, who plays Buddy Jackson, best known for his role in the T.V. show Friday Night Lights is also in this film. And that being said he is probably the best actor in this film. Yes, even better than George Strait, and don't get me wrong, George is one of my favorite country singers and he is probably the best all time, but the man just isn't a very good actor. His monotone voice is what hurts him the most and his lack of emotion in many scenes hurts the film. His best emotion, shockingly, comes when he is singing his songs. There is also Isabel Glasser, who plays the love interest, and she is very good in some of the scenes, particularly the end scene.
    Now, this film doesn't have a lot going for it, although it does have some well shot concert scenes and some well put together emotional scenes when Dusty is going down memory lane. The director, Christopher Cain, just didn't have what it took to make this a better looking movie than it is or how it was shot at times. I understand that he was probably trying to keep a classic feel to the film, and it worked, but at times I felt that he could have done more with some scenes to give them an extra push. The only scenes that seemed to have that extra push were the concert scenes, although even the climax scene could have had a little more emotion with the way it was shot.
    Now, I'm not saying this is a bad movie because it certainly is not, there are plenty other worse movies out there. This is a good movie because it is a good story and is a "feel good" movie that will make you smile in the end. Also, this movie has one of the best soundtracks ever for a film, with songs like "Heartland," "When Did You Stop Loving Me," "Baby Your Baby," "Overnight Male," Last in Love," and of course "I Cross My Heart," this is a movie that could be told straight from the songs that were written just for the movie. So, with a good moving story, mediocre direction, a mediocre performance from George Strait, and an awesome soundtrack to help move the film along, this will leave you tapping your feet throughout and smiling at the end, but being happy that George Strait just sticks to singing those classics.
2.5/4 Stars