Customer Reviews

Pure Country [VHS]

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought the video to Pure Country after listening to the soundtrack album. The movie is well-done. George Strait plays Dusty Chandler, a country music superstar who gets tired of the loud sound and overhyped special effects(smoke and strobe lights) in his shows. After an argument with his manager, Lula Rogers(played by Lesley Ann Warren), Dusty says to his best friend, Earl(John Doe), "I'm just gonna take me a little walk," and he does that. He returns to his old hometown, cuts off his beard and ponytail, and tries to get back to his down-home country roots, going first to his Grandma Ivy's house and then to the bar where he once played. After Dusty leaves town, Lula tries to keep his show going at all costs. With some important concert dates coming up, including one in Las Vegas, she hires Buddy(Kyle Chandler), a member of Dusty's road crew, to lip-synch his songs. Most of the band members have doubts, but Lula goes ahead with the plan. The first concert date goes smoothly, and Lula justifies what she does by blaming Dusty for walking out. Lula also hires a private detective and goes off herself to find Dusty.

Meanwhile, Dusty goes to a night club, where he meets the young rancher Harley, the other principal character(played by Isabel Glasser). Harley's boyfriend gets jealous upon seeing her with another guy, and a fight starts. After breaking his rival's nose, Dusty is knocked out in the parking lot and wakes up the next morning. He accepts Harley's offer of breakfast and later finds himself taking roping lessons. Before too long, with the help of Harley and her brothers, he becomes a good roper, and it turns out that his skills are needed. Harley's dad, Ernest(Rory Calhoun), is in danger of losing the ranch, and he is depending on Harley's winning her event at a big rodeo in Las Vegas to stay afloat.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but it turns out to be a fairy tale in which things eventually work out well for everyone. Harley wins at the rodeo, saving her ranch. Dusty comes back, patches things up with everybody(except Buddy, whom he gets rid of after learning how much publicity Buddy's lip-synching act has gotten) and puts on a great show in Vegas--minus the ponytail, beard and fancy costume. Lula at long last gives Dusty an emotional apology. And despite Lula's efforts to break up his romance, Dusty gets his girl(Harley) in the end.

Though George is the movie's star, Lesley Ann Warren, in my opinion, steals the show as the crafty Lula. Lula professes to be concerned about Dusty and his band members, but everything she does(using Buddy as a stand-in, hiring a private detective, and following Dusty) shows me that she's really in it for the money. It is only after watching Buddy's TV interview and seeing Harley, who turns out to be Dusty's true love, that Lula breaks down. We're not told much about Dusty and Lula's non-business relationship, although those who saw the movie(including myself) will see, from the barroom photo Dusty looks at, that she played in his band before he got popular and that she was his old girlfriend. John Doe's character, Earl, also plays an important role, though it's a minor one. He reminisces with Dusty about the old days(when they went to the carnival and watched the "dancing chicken"). He defends Dusty against Lula's accusations that he(Dusty) walked out, and, being the loyal friend that he is, he walks out himself and follows Dusty to Harley's ranch.

Director Chris Cain and writer Rex McGee did a very good job on this film. Their failure to develop Dusty and Lula's relationship further is the only flaw in an otherwise fine movie. The acting, though there aren't many well-known actors, is first-rate, and George sings a lot of great tunes, including the hit "I Cross My Heart", on an awesome soundtrack. I think, too, that George, who had never acted before except in TV commercials, does a very convincing job as Dusty. I became a George Strait fan after watching this movie. I think that even those who aren't music fans will like it. It's a great portrayal of country music, and it also is a good slice-of-life movie.

For anyone who loves traditional country music, and who is a fan of George Strait, then you are advised to watch this very fun movie. This movie was very well made for George Strait(which was motion picture debut) as Dusty Wyatt Chandelor. As Dusty becomes more popular as a country music singer, his manager (Lesley Ann Warren) stages all his tours with smoke, strobe lights, and really loud music to where no one can even see or hear the "real" country artist. To be honest, what Strait's character goes through is more like being in one of Garth Brooks tours which is more rock & rap than it is country. So he decides to ditch it all to go back to his small town roots, and there he falls for the lovely Harley Tucker (Isabell Glasser). A very wonderful movie that has a heart and soul. Thanks for being true to country, Mr. Strait!

Without a doubt one of the best movies to feature great country music in a true country atomosphere (not like Urban Cowboy or Rhinestone), is the movie Pure Country starring George Strait, Lesley Ann Warren, and Isabel Glasser. The plot centers around the career of a country music singer by the name of Dusty Chandler played by George who gets tired of performing shows that are too extravagent and look lik a forth of July celebration with fireworks, smoke, and music so lound that nobody can hear the words. Dusty's manager is the flirty Lula Rodgers played by Warren. When Dusty just takes a walk one night he ends up back in his old home town, one thing leads to another and the next thing you know he's romancing a beautiful young woman named Harley Tucker (Glasser) who is struggling to keep the family ranch out of the bank's hands. All the while Dusty tours goes on without him. Lula feeling that she has no other choice sends out a Dusty impersonator in the form of Buddy Jackson (Kyle Chandler), a member of the road crew who just happens to be her boyfriend. In the end Dusty gets his girl and he gives a great performance, just him and his guitar. The performance of "I Cross My Heart" is enough to make the anybody anybody wish that they could find a love this true. I get choked up every time and watch and I wish that it was me singing on that stage. At that point he is pretty much the luckiest person in the world. A great career and a great woman. The music this movie has to offer is, how can I say it, greater than any other movie ever made. There is something for every fan of country music, from heartbreak songs to love ballads to songs that you can't help but dance too. If you want to watch a movie that really makes you want to fall in love watch this one and if you like country music and you haven't seen this movie that plaease watch it, I beg of you. Buy the soundtrack too. To wrap this up buy the movie, rent it, do what you have to do. It's the best movie I ever seen and I can't stress that enough. The movie is clean so you can watch it with your kids, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your spouse, watch it with anybody you want to. Trust me you'll be doing them a favor. Thank you very much and have a good 'un. END

This movie should be retitled "Pure Magic". George Strait proves why he's a superstar by turning in a great first time acting job as the fictitional country music star Dusty Chandler. One night after Dusty stops singing for three bars during a concert he figures out that it's the "glitz" and not the "hits" that fans are coming to see. This rude awakening causes him to take immediate stock of himself when he begins to feel like a "dancing chicken" in a traveling road show. And so he abruptly sets out on a search to find his roots and to recapture the love and passion he once had for performing. One night by way of a drunken stuper in a cowboy bar he meets the georgeous Harley Tucker (in a scene stealing performance by Isabel Glasser) and tries to defend her honor but he can barely stand up. So after losing a fight she takes one look at that killer smile and says.....hmmmm.....I think I'll bring this one home with me tonight. When Dusty's manager Lula Rogers (another scene stealing performance played by Lesley Ann Warren) finaly catches up with Dusty and sees her "competition" she sabotages the budding relationship by lying to Harley. When Dusty finds out what Lula did he lays down the law and Lula repents and finds Harley and comes clean with her. Then at his Vegas show Dusty (George that is) procedes to sing to Harley one of the greatest country ballads of all time "I Cross My Heart" in a spine tingling performance that will make you want to jump up and watch the movie all over again! Don't listen to anybody else but me. This ones a keeper!

PURE COUNTRY is not so much a Country story as it is a statement about where Country Music was heading at the time the movie was made. Remember? Garth Brooks was climbing the charts faster than a chimp up a banana tree and he was doing it with what? With un-country-like special effects including bizarre light shows, pyrotechnics and smoke. Many other Country stars followed suit.

To a purest like George Strait the rock-and-roll-ization of Country Music was tantamount to the vilest heresies. What better way to speak out against it than with a movie that depicts a Country singer who has lost his way and rediscovers his roots and his life? PURE COUNTRY makes an eloquent statement against the crossover efforts of Brooks and others while telling an enchanting story about the simplicity of the Country life. The music, as would be expected, is fabulous and the cast performances, including George Strait doing some riding and roping, are terrific too.

As far as the statement is concerned, I agree wholeheartedly with Strait's assessment of things. Leave the lights and noise and smoke to KISS and other groups and performers who made that type of outlandish performance famous. For me, as the movie title implies, I prefer PURE COUNTRY.

THE HORSEMAN

I first saw this movie on TV and loved it so much I bought it. I can watch it over and over, even when it comes on TV. I had never heard George Strait, but I've become a big fan. I love the story, the characters and the music. It's one of my all-time favorite movies.

First of all, George Strait is not a polished actor, and does not pretend to be. Yet for years Hollywood types, including Col. Tom Parker, (Elvis's manager) encouraged George to make a film. Talent scouts saw in him a handsomeness, a stage presence, and a likability that fans always knew. But George consistently turned down the offers, preferring to concentrate on his special brand of country music. Finally, a script was fashioned he could relate to. In certain ways, the plot holds to similarities that Strait adheres to. I have been to several of his sold-out concerts. And some of what he chaffes at in "Pure Country" is true. He does not like, and does not feel comfortable with the smoke, the lights, the "volcano blasts" deemed essential by some of his contemporaries. An intensely private man, his character of Dusty, relentlessly promoted by his ambitious manager Lula Rodgers, (Lesley Ann Warren) mirrors a view of a dissillusioned country superstar refusing to be a manipulated "dancing chicken" anymore. His spontaneous side trip off the concert circuit leads him back to his small town roots, where he rediscovers the passion that helped him attain superstar status. Shaving off his beard and pony tail in an attempt to remain anonymous, he meets the beautiful Harley Tucker (Isabel Glasser). Instantly smitten, he hides his stage identity from Harley and makes no attempt to dazzle her with his status as a country music superstar. Indeed, he is just Wyatt and both start to fall deeply in love. Lula, however, will have no part of that, and conspires to undermine the relationship to get Dusty back on the road. Almost all of the songs in this wonderful movie are sung by Strait, and can be found on the Pure Country CD. For an album to be assembled so quickly to meet the requirements of film deadlines, it has gone on to become one of his best selling albums. One of the great mysteries of country music is why the catchy song "Overnight Male" was never released as a single and as a consequence never received radio air play. Rare is the concert where his fans do not clamor for him to sing it. Oh well. "Pure Country" is pure entertainment. If George Strait never makes another movie, he can be dang proud of this effort. Thanks for the memories George.

This is an honest pure classic at it's best....no high priced moviestars making demands to satisfy their every whim. Just plain good hardworking actors that made a movie from the heart. This movie is a southern heart warming pleasure. A must to see!!!

George Strait has a wonderful understated acting style. He did not try to "ACT" in this movie, he just decided to be himself, and that is what makes this movie the jewel that it is. Especially because being yourself is the theme of the entire movie. Isabelle Glassar was very impressive as Harley, the girl who helps turn Dusty's life around. I loved the simple but powerful storyline. It isn't often that you find such a wonderful movie that effortlessly blends the human elements of a story with the showbiz glitter. Kudos to the director for keeping the flavor. An excellent movie, if you havn't seen it because you just aren't a "Country music" fan, watch it, you will love it.

I first stumbled upon this movie when I learned Kyle Chandler (Buddy Jackson) was in this movie, since hes my favorite actor I had to watch it. Though he had few sceens (and he played a sort of 'bad guy' the villan) I thought it was a good movie. It was cute that George Strait and his son sang the title song, I liked all the music that they had used for "Pure Country" "I Cross my Heart", "Heartland", "Overnight Male" and "Where the Sidewalk Ends" are my favorites of the movie.