By Jae-Ha Kim
Amazon.com
Theatrical release: September 8, 2006
Broken Bridges, starring country superstar Toby Keith, is the Country Music Channel’s debut entry into the world of feature films.
Though it plays more like a televised movie of the week–complete with an opaque plot, much tears, and a happy ending–Broken Bridges is a guilty pleasure, thanks in large part to the surprising likeability (though not believability) of Keith. The tall singer plays Bo Price, a struggling musician who heads back to his small hometown for his younger brother’s funeral. There, he runs into his high-school sweetheart Angela Dalton (Kelly Preston) and her teenage daughter Dixie (Lindsey Haun, daughter of Air Supply guitarist Jimmy Haun).
It comes as no surprise to the viewer that Dixie is Bo’s child–a daughter he never knew he had. Though she doesn’t share her father’s gruff personality, she did inherit his musical aptitude and stage presence.
While Burt Reynolds chews up the scenery as Angela’s father, Tess Harper–playing his wife–doesn’t get much to do other than look worried. Look for BeBe Winans and Willie Nelson to make guest appearances as themselves.
As for Bo and Angela? She makes a feeble attempt to resist her ex’s charms by laying down the law. “I came out here to lay down the ground rules,” she tells him. “Don’t speak to my parents. Don’t speak to Angela. And don’t speak to me.”
Rules, of course, are meant to be broken, especially in feel-good movies such as this.
