![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
“Country Strong” Review: Strong cast and catchy tunes overshadow subpar storyline
January 9, 2011
Just like a country song: sappy enough to get your toes curling, catchy enough to get your head bobbing, and vague enough to lose track of what the song’s about. Country Strong’s subpar storyline sags below the support of the movie’s (country)strong cast and catchy soundtrack. In a theater filled with Tim McGraw fans and 95.3 KRTY listeners, naturally all country goes, and writer/director Shana Feste does not hold back, flailing the audience into a country music whirlwind.
For actor Garrett Hedlund, the role of Beau Hutton stretches far beyond his recent hyper-tech character from Tron, Sam Flynn. But Hedlund stays true to his angst-y—introverted—heartthrob persona, playing the role of a small-town country singer passionate about his music. Along with his night job of performing his music at local pubs, Beau also holds a job at a rehab center where he happens to meet and develop a relationship with Grammy-winning country singer Kelly Canter (Gwyenth Paltrow).
Paltrow morphs into her superstar character, sporting a newfound accent, wardrobe, and sassy southern edge. Her performance as Kelly has the audience completely attune with the character’s thoughts, enough to be able to foresee Kelly’s final decision; however, her image as country’s sweetheart is challenged by pageant-princess Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester). Far from the Upper East Side of Blair Waldorf, Chiles is on the road to fame, but choking in the limelight. Kelly’s husband James (Tim McGraw) pairs up Chiles and Beau to open for Kelly’s new tour, creating a teeter-totter of romance as Beau alters from one singer to the other. Meanwhile, James and Kelly struggle with repairing their lost love after a musical catastrophe intervened with their family’s future.
Feste seems to be playing around with the idea of implication, as she fails to explicitly explain the romances as well as the events leading up to them. This ambiguity keeps the viewers from completely immersing themselves in the plot. Rather than developing the romance between Beau and Kelly and later romances as well, she instead throws the viewers into the middle of it without ever formally conveying what in fact “it” is. She also never fully explains what Kelly is doing in rehab nor what actually “happened in Dallas” until the film is near an end. While in some movies this uncertainty adds to an artistic liberty, in Country Strong it is simply unclear. Overall, this heart-wrenching drama is a solid O.K.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
