'Country Strong' hits only a few good notes

Early in "Country Strong," a young musician, Beau Hutton, asks an alcoholic music veteran, Kelly Canter, to help him write a song. In seconds, she whips up a hit ballad. Impressive, except that Jeff Bridges' boozy Bad Blake did the same thing in last year's Oscar-winning country-music drama, "Crazy Heart."

The title of Beau's song? "Timing Is Everything."

That twang of irony isn't the only sour note in "Country Strong." Gwyneth Paltrow takes the role of the self-sabotaging superstar, while Garrett Hedlund ("Tron: Legacy") plays Beau, the youngster who loves her. Their romance is a little icky: Not only is she married to her manager, James (Tim McGraw, bland as Glen Campbell), but Beau works at her rehab facility. When Kelly embarks on a comeback tour, Beau serves as her warm-up act. Literally.

Full of ginned-up drama and broken bottles, "Country Strong" is too derivative to strike any resonant chords. Writer-director Shana Feste ("The Greatest") checks off mandatory scenes but ignores emotional logic: Her characters explode but keep simmering, they choose fame but also obscurity, they stay and also go. When a budding Carrie Underwood named Chiles Stanton (a likable Leighton Meester) asks Kelly for advice, she gets this mangled nugget: "Choose love. Just take off and don't look back."

The actors sing well, a requirement at least since "Walk the Line," and various country-music vets play small roles. Guitarist Jim Lauderdale shows up leading Kelly's band, which only makes you think: Having worked with George Strait, Dwight Yoakam and the Dixie Chicks, he probably could have told a better tale than this.