Leanna Taylor is a country singer whose backup band is the Blue Valley Ramblers. At the opening, she is late for a performance, as usual, because she just had to read People's Digest. She charms her way out of a traffic ticket, and then arrives just in time for one of many good performances.
Among the problems: a phone call with terrible news from Leanna's mother, who hasn't contacted her in years. And the band needs new material. And Thelma, the pregnant wife of one of the band members, can't stand having her husband leave her (he might find someone else just like he found her). But this struggling band has to travel. And the biggest problem of all: band manager Hank has been Leanna's boyfriend for many years but he is controlling and won't commit. Bobby writes a duet for himself and Leanna and ...
Flashbacks of Leanna's early life are shown throughout the movie. She sings (make that lip-syncs) in church as a young girl, and she must deal with an abusive and overprotective father.
The movie started off fine. There was some comedy, such as Thelma's constant phone calls, and Leanna having to share a motel room with all the male band members except the one chosen to sleep in the car. Things started going downhill, though. I hoped the movie would get better when Leanna visited her hometown of Blue Valley. It did to some extent, but overall, I wasn't that happy.
The biggest reason to watch this movie was Dolly herself. She almost always plays herself in her movies. And this was true here. Leanna was charming and compassionate but had a temper. I liked seeing Leanna when she was happy, but this movie was hard to watch when she was mad or crying. I'm not saying anything was wrong with her performance; I just like seeing Dolly happy.
Of course, it's the music that makes the movie worth watching. Dolly is quite talented as a singer, whether doing mainstream country that appeals to a large audience, or old-time music that Leanna wants to do but shouldn't risk because it's not really what the audience wants. The band was good too. And there was a really good quartet called The Dobsons that performed 'Amazing Grace' at Leanna's church.
If I have to pick actors that gave good performances, I would say the woman who played Ruby, who ran the club where Leanna performed the most, and the man who played Leanna's pastor.
It wasn't a bad movie. But Dolly Parton has done better.
