Pure Country 2: The Gift

A sequel in name only, Pure Country 2: The Gift follows aspiring country singer Bobbie Thomas (Katrina Elam) as she moves to Nashville in the hopes of making it as a big-time performer – with complications ensuing as Bobbie inevitably discovers the true cost of fame and fortune. It’s a reasonably workable premise that’s squandered right from the get-go by Christopher Cain, as the filmmaker opens the proceedings with a remarkably stupid sequence in which three angels (Michael McKean’s Joseph, Bronson Pinchot’s Matthew, and Cheech Marin’s Pedro) bless a newborn baby with a beautiful singing voice. (The child, of course, grows up to become the central character.) It’s worth noting, however, that the film does temporarily improves as the storyline segues into its small-town-girl-makes-it-big phase, with the slowly-paced yet watchable atmosphere persisting right up until screenwriters Cain and Dean Cain (!) begin emphasizing elements of a decidedly heavy-handed nature (ie Bobbie abandons the band members that originally helped her out). There’s little doubt that Pure Country 2: The Gift consequently peters out to an almost astonishing degree, as Cain offers up one ill-conceived sequence after another and even manages to blow the cameo appearance by George Strait (ie the country singer isn’t playing his character from the first movie but rather himself, which doesn’t make a lick of sense and indicates that there are two figures in that universe that look and sound exactly like George Strait). By the time the eye-rolling conclusion rolls around, Pure Country 2: The Gift has established itself as a shockingly bottom-of-the-barrel endeavor that’s certain to leave even the most ardent fans of the original film annoyed and frustrated.

*1/2 out of ****

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