MovieChat Forums > Country Strong (2011) Discussion > (*spoliers) Tim McGraw, is the real vict...

(*spoliers) Tim McGraw, is the real victim, the rest are scumbags

posted 14 years ago by pimpmastabola
13 replies | jump to latest

The whole movie he asserts how much he loves his wife, and how much he thought she was a true Angel. Of Course he going to be a little luke warm towards her. His wife just killed his unborn baby as a result of alcholism. He is struggling to have things the way the used to be before his wife became a promsicious, disloyal, baby killing, alcholic on a downward spiral. You see his former love for his wife when his eyes light up looking at the young Chile Stanton. But everyone in the movie betrays him someway or another.
Beau betrays him because, I believe, Canter was so naive and refused to believe that Beau could possibly be having an adulterous relationship with his wife. Then his wife betrays him a so many levels. The last thing he said to her was his unwavering love for her, and what does she do... she takes that away from him. In her dying days she only sends a thank you letter to that scumbag Beua. There is nothing no words for her husband, who was with her from the begingig when she was "gapped tooth and bow-legged"

And Yes Beau was a scumbag, did anybody forget that Beau was officially dating Chiles' homegirl and there was no sign that the relationship ended. While he was dating that other girl, he was also having an affair with a married woman while at the same time sleeping with an up and coming country starlet.

Even the concert promoter betrayed James. And not once, not once did James turn his back on his wife. Not once did he cheat on her, or intentially hurt her feelings.

Some might say that Mr. Canter was wrong for pushing her on stage to be what she used to be. But in reality, in James' mind that is who she was. She always lived for the stage for the performance, she lived for it all. If she could just get back into the swing of things everything could be back to normal.

[–] ameliaheartsu-1 14 years ago

We don't know that she didn't send him a letter. The movie wasn't about the husband.
I think her husband was deeply hurt but every time she looked to him for emotional support he turned away which made everything worse.

[–] Braindead09 14 years ago

McCraw in Country Strong played his character without all those yahoo twangs that seem to dominate films of this ilk, McGraw managed to persuade me that out of all the characters in the film he was the honest and ultimately sympathetic character. The writers were clever initially portraying him as an *beep* who was stabbing his wife in the back, I felt Paltrow was the villain who conned and cheated her loyal fans.

I reckon those pills at the first gig were placebos and it was a test to see how relaible beau was.

The bird in the box was alsoy nursed and fed by McCraw round the clock and what did Paltrow do to it.

[–] Eightythreeyearoldguy 14 years ago

McGraw was no victim, but each of the four was in one way or another a tragic character.

I'm the kind of guy, when I move - watch my smoke. But I'm gonna need some good clothes though.

[–] harveythepooka 14 years ago

Ok, for me personally I just about disagree with just about everything you said. James was not there for his wife, he didn't support her, he didn't listen to her, he didn't even see her unless she was on stage. He looked at her as a meal ticket and he didn't actually care about her. She didn't make it easy for anyone to care about her because of her DISEASE and everything she did was a symptom of that disease. She got progressively more and more self-destructive and her husband did nothing to help her, he just passed the buck asking where was Beau. Kelly disgusted him because of her behavior, but he did NOTHING to stop her! He didn't even hold her accountable for her own actions, he just kept on pushing her and pushing her when what she needed was someone to set limits for her, to be with her, to show her that they actually cared and Beau was the only one to do that. And as to James not knowing Kelly and Beau were sleeping together . . . I don't think anyone not living in fantasy land wouldn't at least think it was a strong possibility.

I think your definition of cheating is strictly physical, because emotionally he had checked out of that relationship years ago. I know Kelly loved him but I don't think he loved her anymore, he was there because it was his job to be there, it was his job to pander to her so he did, even if doing so hurt her. I do agree that he thought being on stage would help her, or at least not hurt her, but he didn't listen to doctors when he took her out of rehab, he had his own agenda and her losing the child only compounded all of the other issues that had gotten her to that point to begin with and he never showed her any genuine affection without expecting something back in return.

I'm with you that I didn't like Beau too much because he was a womanizer, but he never cheated on anyone, he was with you 100 and 10% when he was with you, when he wasn't with you he just wasn't. That bothered me in the beginning but by the end I just accepted that was who he was. As a woman I wouldn't want a relationship with him but he was a very good friend.

[–] zuzupetal_99 14 years ago

First, Beau wasn't still sleeping w/ Kelly when he was w/ Chiles. James knew about the affair, b/c he wasn't stupid and Beau even says "We both know I'm not her sponsor", right before James gives him the punch in the face that he must've felt he owed him. Second, I see no reason to assume all those pills Kelly was given were placebos - if anything they were probably used to sedate her & keep her controllable!

I thought James was a complete puke. Who's to say he wasn't a cheater? The movie never says, but it does allude to it - Kelly writes Chiles to "stay away from my husband" and she worries about other women being pretty to entice James away from her, and when she needs him before her first concert, he blows her off to flirt w/ Chiles. He even turns her down for sex, and did anyone notice everytime he talks about Kelly, it was always using the word "loved" - always past-tense, and always talking about the old days. When Kelly "used to be strong", and she used to be on top. The one time they appear close is at the Make-a-Wish event, he goes to her and she feels close to him for just a moment, and then he pulls away and leaves. It seemed very much to me, that maybe James used to love her, but he clearly has no feelings left for her anymore - too much hurt, and anger and resentment was between them to ever go back to the way it was. James was cold, and pushy - all he cared about was getting her onstage - he didn't want to take care of her, just her career. He pulled her out of rehab early, ignored her downward spiral and cries for help, and basically made no effort to be understanding or supportive or help her thru. The movie showed us what Kelly did - the really awful mistakes she made, but I still ended up hating James anyway....

"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl

[–] blugirlami21 14 years ago

I didn't hate James and that is probably because of the dancing scene he and Kelly had together. There was so much emotion there that it made me realize that they used to have something great. The scene shows how Kelly was when she was at her best. She seemed to be sober, she was great with kids, she had a big heart, etc. And when James asked her to dance it was like he was seeing her for the first time in a long time. But he ultimately couldn't allow himself to go there emotionally. He couldn't let himself fall into the trap of believing that this Kelly was here to stay.

I think that it's mostly from her being an alcoholic. I think there were many times when she sobered up and acted the way she used to and he would fall in love with her all over again but she would relapse and he would then be stuck. So he distanced himself. I don't think he was a cheater, I think most of that was Kelly projecting her insecurities because she knew that he wasn't sleeping with her.

He was cold and distant and that's not what Kelly needed. I think James thought that if he got her career back on track that Kelly would follow. That doing what she did best would magically fix her and make her want to be better but it doesn't work like that. I think losing the baby broke something in her and in him and I don't think either she or him could look at her the same way.

The Eraser room does two things: Cleans erasers and takes our innocence.

[–] Eightythreeyearoldguy 14 years ago

James' being instrumental to get her out of rehabilitation when he did certainly indicated to me that he didn't have her best interests at heart and therefore sure wasn't a victim. Beau was a bit of a womanizer, not extreme, but he showed more real concern for Kelly than James did.

I'm the kind of guy, when I move - watch my smoke. But I'm gonna need some good clothes though.

[–] teixeifm90 14 years ago

I guess in my mind James was trying to change her back to the way she was before. He was forcing her onstage because when he first heard her voice he thought it was an angel, if he could get her back to that prime everything would be all right again.

I think that's why he took to Chiles, he saw the vibrant nature and strength in her that he so badly missed. So he knew she would be a success if given a chance.

I really ached for James.

Talking monkey, yeah, yeah. Came here from the future, ugly sucker, only says "ficus".

[–] LovesConfusingJoy 14 years ago

yeah I was watching it a second time and I totally agree w/ you

[–] BeBeLiviLove 13 years ago

personally i didn't see good ppl vs bad ppl.
they were just people. humans. with flaws and qualities.
all of them were interesting in their own way and they seemed real to me.
i don't think they were exaggerating the characters or anything.
i liked the 4 main a lot. they made good choices and bad ones... that's life.

and i love movies like that because it does seem real :)

amazing acting there, btw.

[–] freemoviesforme 13 years ago

I have watched this in bits and pieces on cable and still think I have missed a few parts but overall I don't think any one character was the clear "villain." That is probably the best thing about the movie. There are many improbable parts of the movie but the most realistic was that each character had good and bad in them. I do believe James loved Kelly but he also wanted her stardom to continue. In his mind he felt she needed to put the original Dallas incident behind her and move on. No he should not have taken her out of rehab. However I do think he loved her, don't think he cheated on her. The only thing he did wrong was push her onto the tour. He put up with her cheating and drinking because he did love her.

Beau's character was sweet and kind at times and did seem to worry about Kelly in a real way but he also was all over the place with his affections, which is pretty realistic for a young guy in the position he was in with a famous star and young pretty lady both looking for his attention. So he was no saint.

Kelly herself was both good and bad. She expected her husband to put up with her antics no matter what. Yes she is an alcoholic but that does not excuse all her actions. Chiles had her good and bad as well, but overall she was proably the most innocent, just a kid trying to make the big time and fall in love. In the end I felt the most sorry for James.

Overall too many improbable things going on for me to really love the movie.

[–] 2littletime 13 years ago

I agree with the OP.

But go a step further. No body is all good, or all bad - that is being human. Every main character makes choices/mistakes in this movie, some are irreparable.

They should have stuck with the original ending would have been more meaningful.

[–] prbronx5 13 years ago

I agree with OP. I thought the only two really "good" people were James and Chiles. Although Beau was a very nice guy, he was pretty flawed while Kelly was around.