Country music star Toby Keith makes his feature film debut in this sweet-natured tale of loves lost and found, mending fences (or fixing those titular bridges, take your pick), and addressing the possibility that maybe you really can go home again.
Broken Bridges addresses all of these homespun clichés plus a few more as it unfolds with the pleasant predictability of a so-so country tune you've heard one too many times but still can't resist humming along with. Keith stars as Bo Price, a once-famous singer now trying to resist the booze and irresponsible behavior that wound up wrecking his career. There are even more demons to be dealt with when Bo returns to his sleepy little hometown for a family funeral — beginning with unexpectedly meeting his 16-year-old daughter (Lindsey Haun) for the first time and a strained reunion with the girl's mother, old flame Angela (Kelly Preston).
There are other complications in store as well, but not much by way of actual tension or surprises, this being the sort of movie where bridges between fathers and daughters are always only temporarily out of order, true love always finds a way, and everybody's happily both a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n' roll. On the up side, Keith, who's serviceable enough here even if he doesn't exactly set the acting world on fire, gets to sing a few songs, the movie's production values aren't half-bad, and there are some amusing cameos by the likes of Burt Reynolds and Willie Nelson.
Broken Bridges 2.5 stars (PG-13) Stars Toby Keith, Kelly Preston, Lindsey Haun, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, Daniel Newman, BeBe Winans, Steven Coulter and Willie Nelson. Opens Sept. 8 at local theaters.
This article appears in Sep 6-12, 2006.