THE COUNTRY BEARS (2002) *** It's got the spirit in it. Maybe not a motherload, but it's got a significant dose of a magic so powerful that it can't be measured-the stuff that made the '70s Disney films great, and the renegade spirit of country rock that launched a few hundred brilliant albums that will be forming the musical foundation of soulful films long after we're all gone. There's no way to explain what's great about the film without sounding like an idiot-they're going on the road to get the band of bears back together again. Sounds a little bit like The Blues Brothers and it is. This particular band of bears, you understand, taught quite a bit to Willie Nelson. Cameos abound and his isn't even best. I would have to give that honour to Bonnie Raitt. Not sure why, again, you can't put your finger on it. Something about her smile that insists that all of the missed opportunities and lousy crowds and crappy drugs and one-night stands and dodgy business associates and hungover mornings and...she tells us, without speaking, that more than we could possibly imagine is worth it just to realize this one moment when she can just sit there looking like that and smile, and have it mean what it does to thousands of people. John Hiatt's songs are tremendous, and the other selections are inspired--the Lynyrd Skynyrd > "Car Wash" transition is my favourite, but "We're an American Band" says more in fifteen seconds than most bands do in a lifetime. And what could a film like this be without Christopher Walken?! No, really...it's lifetime achievement award stuff! He's even better than the bears, and you've long since ceased considering it strange that bears are walking around in a people movie. It's celluloid litmus, baby. If you're not sure whether or not someone is cool, take them to see this.
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