It's always interesting to see country stereotypes brought to life on film. As corny as they usually are, filmmakers continue to make movies about country life. But it's addicting to watch, kind of like the hilariously implausible romantic movies on Hallmark.
Queue up Netflix and grab some Kleenex because these ten country movies are your best cheesy choices. Don't act like you don't know every line.
9. 8 Seconds
Based on the true story of bull rider Lane Frost, 8 Seconds is certain to make you cry. After watching this movie, you're bound to get Garth Brooks' "The Beaches of Cheyenne" stuck in your head. It will make you cry all over again.
Cheesiest line:
Luke Perry, about marriage: "I guess it's like bull ridin', you gotta stay on and try not to get bucked off."
8. Hope Floats
This 1998 romantic drama features Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr. in the standard girl-hates-boy, girl-gets-to-know-boy-better, girl-loves-boy formula. This movie made audiences laugh, cry, and feel irate with themselves for absolutely loving it.
Cheesiest line:
Sandra Bullock: "...beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up."
Read More: This Small Texas Town Was the Set for the '90s Southern Classic 'Hope Floats'
7. Country Strong
Until this movie was released in 2010, no one really knew movie star Gwyneth Paltrow could sing. Some still aren't convinced. Paltrow plays a recovering alcoholic country star who is battling her own demons to become "country strong" with Tim McGraw starring as her manager/husband. It's a tear-jerker and super cheesy, but it's absolutely impossible to turn off.
Cheesiest line:
Tim McGraw to Gwyneth Paltrow while the two are in bed: "The first time I heard you sing... I thought that it must be what angels sound like. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven."
6. The Last Song
Based on a Nicholas Sparks novel that is not The Notebook, the storyline of this feature film centers around Miley Cyrus in a post Hannah Montana role as a rebellious, yet musically brilliant teen, Veronica 'Ronnie' Miller. After she refuses to attend Juilliard in New York, her mother, played by Kelly Preston, sends her to a southern Beach town in Georgia to stay with her estranged father, Steve Miller, played by Greg Kinnear. Bobby Coleman co-stars as younger brother Jonah Miller. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson and produced by Adam Shankman, the coming of age film is every bit as cheesy and depressing as you'd expect it to be.
Ronnie connects with her father over their mutual love of music, rebuffs the advances of the irresistible Liam Hemsworth who becomes her first love, and grows into a young woman. Miley was probably miscast, but Cyrus fans love this film since it was a real-life love story for Miley and Liam who were together on and off for years after filming. It also gave fans the popular high school ballad, "When I Look At You."
Cheesiest line:
An overly-dramatic Miley Cyrus: "Truth only means something when it's hard to admit! Don't you get that?"
5. The Rookie
In this heartwarming 2002 Disney film, Denis Quaid portrays Jim Morris, a science teacher and baseball coach from Big Lake, Texas. He fulfills a lifelong dream of pitching in the major leagues. You'll get goosebumps because it's based on a true story. Grab some popcorn and don't give up on your dreams.
Cheesiest line:
Spoken by Jim's wife: "Jim Morris, I'm a Texas woman, which means I don't need the help of a man to keep things running."
4. Murphy's Romance
The age difference between Sally Field and James Garner makes this movie an unlikely love story. Field, a single mother, moves to a small town in rural Arizona to open a business training and boarding horses. Her friendship with the town's pharmacist (Garner) blossoms into a romance. There are some super sweet and poignant moments though, which helps redeem the 27-year age gap between the lovers. In real life, they are 18 years apart.
Cheesiest line:
Garner to Field: "I'm in love for the last time in my life."
Field to Garner: "I'm in love for the first time in my life."
3. Young Guns
This utterly clichéd brat pack Western is almost too corny to be believed. However, it's pretty much worth the 90 minutes of your life that you'll never get back to watch Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, and Kiefer Sutherland struggle with six-shooters and fake Southern accents. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a pretty weak movie review, but it's still worth it.
Cheesiest line:
Emilio Estevez as Billy the Kid: "If we're caught, we're gonna hang... But there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip."
2. Dear John
Here is another cheese-fest based on a best-selling Nicholas Sparks novel, though it doesn't live up to the hype as much as the other Sparks novel turned film, A Walk To Remember. This film features Hollywood stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried continuously on the cusp of almost losing each other and almost getting back together. As with most of Sparks' works, tragedy is key thematic material in this story, and it will have you reaching for the tissue box as you kick yourself for succumbing to this trite romance.
Cheesiest line:
Seyfried to Tatum: "See you soon, then."
Tatum to Seyfried: "Goodbye, Savannah."
1. Pure Country
With country music king George Strait playing the protagonist, this has to be the corniest country movie of all time which is probably why it performed so poorly at the box office. Don't pretend you don't love it though. Lesley Ann Warren plays the scheming vixen, a role that she does so well. Strait sings, rides horses, and wins the golden heart of the sweet, homegrown country girl by serenading her on stage with his hit song, "I Cross My Heart".
Cheesiest line:
Rory Calhoun spouting country wisdom at its best: "The funny thing about that little white speck on the top of chicken sh**. That little white speck is chicken sh*t too."
This article was originally published in 2015.
