Country-western singing star George Strait makes his film debut with "Pure Country," a show-biz love story that's pure corn pone. Not that his fans will mind in the least.
The broad brush strokes here are set up early as the film opens with Wyatt "Dusty" Chandler (Strait) coming out on stage, surrounded by flashing strobe lights and billowing smoke, opening a show that is all glitz and glamour. Watching from the back of the auditorium, holding a walkie-talkie, is Lula Rogers (Lesley Ann Warren), decked out in low-cut red leather mini — a sure sign that she's not to be trusted.
Soon, we discover that Lula is Dusty's manager, that she discovered him and made him a star. Meanwhile, she's having an affair with a much-younger roadie named Buddy (Kyle Chandler), an ambitious songwriter who'll do anything to get on the fast track to the big time.
The main plot surrounds Dusty's disenchantment with stardom as he complains that the show has taken on a life of its own, leaving the music behind. He wants to go back to his roots, to scale down the show and let the songs be heard rather than overwhelmed by the din of amplified sound and audience screams.
He decides to return home and get back to his roots, walking out on his next show. But greedy Warren, rather than canceling the show, lets Buddy get up on the stage to impersonate Dusty as a tape of Dusty's voice flows from the loudspeakers.
Back in Texas, Dusty meets up with fresh-scrubbed rodeo champion Harley Tucker (Isabel Glasser), and it's love at first sight — though their romance takes a few rocky turns before the requisite happy ending.
It's unfortunate that the screenplay (by Rex McGee, who's seen too many movies) and direction (by Christopher Cain, who fared better with "That Was Then . . . This Is Now" and especially "The Stone Boy") don't try harder to fill in the story's obvious loopholes. For that matter, simply tightening the editing would have made this film 10 times better since some scenes, such as Dusty and Harley's first meeting in a dance hall and a supposedly comic encounter with her family as Dusty sits down to breakfast, seem to go on forever.
Of course, Strait fans won't care — they're boy has made good in an undemanding role (as an actor, Strait is charming but stiff) and with 10 new songs, the film is bound to appeal to its target audience.
For that matter, since "Pure Country" is that modern-day rarity, a sweet little love story with a minimum of profanity, implied sexuality and mild violence, it may also cross over as enjoyable entertainment for non-Strait fans.
If you're skeptical, how do you explain the success of "The Mighty Ducks"?