‘Country Strong’ comes up on the weak side

"COUNTRY STRONG" may refer to the odor of soap opera wafting from this mascara-streaked saga of country stars on the make, on the road.

Gwyneth Paltrow has the lead as Kelly Canter, Wynette-ish diva prematurely yanked out of rehab for a mega-stadium comeback tour in Texas - as it happens, the same place she fell off the wagon, and the stage, and miscarried the child of her husband/manager (Tim McGraw).

Whoa, Nelly. That's enough melodrama for several purple screenplays, but "Country" is just warbling up - joining Paltrow on the road, under the nose of her svengali husband, is her young lover, an up-and-comer named Beau (Garrett Hedlund).

His job is to keep her off the sauce, but he's distracted in this by the tour's budding bombshell crooner, Chiles (Leighton Meester). Will their onstage chemistry lead to offstage complications?

Paging Dewey Cox, and "Let's Duet."

"Country Strong," in fact, resembles the parody-minded "Walk Hard" to an alarming degree: The substance-abusing, partner-swapping Paltrow is like a distaff Dewey, and their character arcs form nearly parallel lines.

This movie, of course, is in earnest, and when it's not forcing you to stifle a laugh, there are moments when the unwavering sincerity of the cast add up to some decent scenes.

Paltrow quickly moves past bitchy competitor phase with her young rival, and begins to mother her, leading to some affecting backstage encounters. And her first scene with Hedlund, rewriting and improving his lyrics, is quite good.

And all of the leads can sing (McGraw, strangely, does not). "Country Strong" has absorbed the lesson that it's best to have the leads do their own singing - that an honest, decent voice contributes more to a character that a lip-synced perfect voice.

All musical-performance scenes feel nicely authentic. But how are we to react to a one-off sequence of Paltrow making a personal appearance for a young leukemia victim, tailoring and singing a song just for him? Especially when it appears that the young actor really is actually stricken?

Acknowledging that a cliff is real doesn't mean we like being pushed over it.

You can take that scene as a sign that "Country Strong" will stop at nothing to achieve its tear-jerking agenda. Forewarned is forearmed.

On the other hand, you can experience all the "Country Strong" good and none of the bad by enjoying the movie's above-average soundtrack, which has several good tracks (and in disc form features Faith Hill, Lee Ann Womack, Patty Loveless, McGraw and Hank Williams Jr.).

Beau is a would-be Townes Van Zandt, whose music is cleverly referenced in "Give in to Me," a Billy Falcon/Rose Falcon song that, as a duet, becomes the foundation of Beau's relationship with Chiles.

Kudos to the tunesmiths.