''Pure Country'' is a 1992 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Christopher Cain Christopher Cain (born October 29, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Cain was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 1969, he married Sharon Thomas, and adopted her two sons, Roger and Dean. The couple's daughter Krisin ...

and starring

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

in his acting debut, with

Lesley Ann Warren Lesley Ann Warren (born August 16, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in 1963, aged 17, in '' 110 in the Shade''. In 1965 she received wide recognition for playing the title role in the television musical prod ...

Isabel Glasser Isabel Glasser (born May 1, 1958) is an American actress who appeared in the movies '' Forever Young'' (1992), ''Pure Country'' (1992), ''Mother'' (1996), '' Second Chances (film), Second Chances'' (1998) and ''Mentor Mentorship is the infl ...

and

Kyle Chandler Kyle Martin Chandler (born September 17, 1965) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut in a 1988 television film, '' Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story'', Chandler's first regular television role was in the ABC drama '' Hom ...

. The film, while profitable with box office receipts of over $15 million against a $10 million budget, fell far short of its expectations. However, the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

was a critical success and, to date, is Strait's best selling album. It was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, '' Pure Country 2: The Gift'' (2010) and '' Pure Country: Pure Heart'' (2017), with the former also being directed by Cain. This movie marked

Rory Calhoun Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...

's last film appearance.

Plot

An audience shouts "Dusty!", a band begins to play amid smoke and lights, and Wyatt "Dusty" Chandler enters the stage to play his hits. Dusty feels that his elaborate stage show is overwhelming his music, a suspicion confirmed one night when he purposely omits several bars of a chart-topping hit, "Where the Sidewalk Ends". When his fans don't even notice, Dusty cuts the performance short. Dusty reminisces about simpler times with his drummer and best friend, Earl. Without telling his manager, Lula, he decides to "take a walk", but does not say exactly where he is going or for how long. Dusty was waiting for his truck, and he hitches a ride. After shaving his beard and cutting off his ponytail, Dusty heads for the small farm town where he grew up, visiting his wise old grandmother. Later that day, he visits a bar where he and Earl played prior to making it big. That evening, Dusty hangs around for some relaxation and discovers Harley Tucker dancing and smiling at Dusty. Al, Harley's drunk and rugged friend, get into an argument in the parking lot over Dusty, who neither have ever seen or met. Dusty, while drunk, comes to assist Harley with Al, who won't stop bothering her. Al punches Dusty and he falls to the ground. Harley brings him home, a reward for defending her honor. While Dusty is enjoying his new freedom, his concert in Shreveport was cancelled. Meanwhile, Buddy Jackson comes on stage, disguised as Dusty himself, and lip-syncing to a recording of Dusty. Covered by lights and smoke, the gimmick works. Meanwhile, Dusty stays on at the ranch, paying room and board and taking roping lessons, all the while earning the respect of Harley's father, Ernest. Ernest confides in Dusty that he is forced to slowly sell pieces of the ranch. Harley is determined to save the struggling spread with victory in a Las Vegas rodeo. Buddy confronts Lula after his "performance" and demands $100,000 and a recording contract. He lies to the media that Lula paid him to keep imitating Dusty. Lula, realizing she's in trouble, reaches out to Earl to find Dusty. She then follows him to Dusty's location. Realizing he has feelings for Harley and will not leave, Lula tells Harley that Dusty is married to her. Harley dumps Dusty and Lula is waiting to scoop him up to return to his band and career. Now back with his band, he demands that his stage shows be toned down. Dusty confronts Buddy about the lie he told the press. Dusty threatens to sue Buddy if he ever shows his face in country music again and Buddy leaves. Lula is grateful for his intervention to which Dusty brings up Harley's name. His first appearance after his "vacation" is in Las Vegas at the same time as the rodeo Harley Tucker is competing in. Lula secretly arranges for Harley and her family to get tickets to Dusty's Show. Once seated she sends an attendant to get Harley where she admits the truth to her. True to his wishes, he does the show without all the smoke and the lights, and sits on the edge of the stage, playing

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and singing " I Cross My Heart", a special love song he has composed for her, which wins him Harley's forgiveness. The two hug at the edge of the stage.

Cast and characters

as Wyatt "Dusty" Chandler *

as Lula Rogers *

as Harley Tucker *

as Buddy Jackson *

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often ...

as Earl Blackstock *

as Ernest Tucker *

Molly McClure Molly McClure (born Mary Ella Karnes; January 19, 1919 – August 15, 2008) was an American film and television actress She appeared in films and televisions series such as '' Daddy's Dyin': Who's Got the Will?'', ''Murphy Brown'', ''Mrs. Doubtf ...

as Grandma Ivy Chandler * James Terry McIlvain as Tim Tucker * Toby Metcalf as J.W. Tucker * Mark Walters as Al * Tom Christopher as Dave - Dusty's Bodyguard * Jeffrey R. Fontana as Eddie - Dusty's Bodyguard * Jeff Prettyman as Bobby Lewis * David Anthony as Dusty's Band * Mike Daily as Dusty's Band * Gene Elders as Dusty's Band * Benny MacArthur as Dusty's Band * Terry Hale as Dusty's Band * Ronnie Huckaby as Dusty's Band * Mike Kennedy as Dusty's Band * Rick McRae as Dusty's Band * Sharon Thomas as Monique James * Julie Johnson as Waitress * Gil Glasgow as Bartender

Production

''Pure Country'' was filmed in 1991 throughout

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, but mostly in Maypearl. The graveyard scene was shot at Cresson Cemetery in Cresson, Texas, and the concert sequences were filmed at concert venues in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, including North Side Coliseum and

Will Rogers Coliseum The Will Rogers Memorial Center (WRMC) is an American public entertainment, sports and livestock complex located in Fort Worth, Texas. It is named for American humorist and writer Will Rogers. It is a popular location for the hosting of specia ...

. The bar scenes where Dusty meets Harley were filmed at Western Kountry Klub, located between Midlothian and Mansfield Tx.

Box office

Despite Strait's popularity in the music world, ''Pure Country'' only grossed $15 million at the box office. Although the expectations had been higher for Strait's first major film role, this did not stop the soundtrack album from becoming the best-selling album of Strait's career to date.

Critical reception

The film received mainly negative reviews upon its release, but critics responded positively to certain aspects of the film. It has a score of 41% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 10. On the television program ''

Siskel and Ebert Gene Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) and Roger Ebert (June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013), collectively known as Siskel & Ebert, were American film critics known for their partnership on television lasting from 1975 to Siskel's dea ...

'' in 1992, film critics

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

both gave the film a "Two thumbs down" rating, but their reviews were more mixed than negative. Both praised George Strait's performance, feeling that he was a convincing actor in the lead, especially considering the challenges of a singer becoming an actor, and they both enjoyed Isabel Glasser's performance, but felt the film was undermined by a hokey story, and no moments for satire which would have made the film better. Film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

, in his annual '' Movie and Video Guide'', also gave the film a mainly negative but somewhat mixed review, giving it two stars out of four and wrote: "This Strait showcase is mostly pure tedium, though the film picks up some in hour two with the appearance of Glasser, and Rory Calhoun as her father".

Sequels

A sequel to ''Pure Country'', '' Pure Country 2: The Gift'' was released on October 15, 2010. ''Pure Country 2: The Gift'' has no storyline connection to the original film written by Rex McGee. Instead, it focuses on a young woman's struggles to become a country singer. George Strait appears as himself, but not as a central character of the film. A third film titled, '' Pure Country: Pure Heart'' was released for a direct-to-video on August 1, 2017. This film has no storyline connection to the original film, either, and no original characters make any appearances.

Soundtrack

* ''See

Pure Country (soundtrack) ''Pure Country'' is the soundtrack album to the 1992 film Pure Country, of the same name, and the thirteenth studio album by American country music singer George Strait. The film stars Strait as fictional country singer Dusty Chandler, and the alb ...

References

External links

* * *
1992 George Strait Interview About ''Pure Country'' Part 1

1992 George Strait Interview About ''Pure Country'' Part 2
{{Christopher Cain 1992 films 1990s English-language films 1992 romantic drama films American romantic drama films Country music films American Western (genre) films 1992 Western (genre) films Films directed by Christopher Cain Films scored by Steve Dorff Films set in Fort Worth, Texas Films shot in Texas Warner Bros. films 1990s American films