She's getting some nice reviews, although the reviews for the movie are kinda mediocre.
Entertainment Weekly
Mariah Carey is perfectly fine playing a waitress who dreams of becoming, yes, a singer - even if the superstar's presence in
such a small venture seems jarring.
Philadelphia City Paper
Mariah Carey isn't the star of Aaron Woodley's film. In fact, she's only on screen for maybe a third of its running time, and a few
minutes of that is spent singing, a sentimental number that rather reductively defines her character, Krystal, a diner waitress and aspiring artist seeking
escape from her abusive state trooper husband (Lance Reddick). Even up against such odds, Carey remains the movie's most compelling figure, her
performance nuanced and generous… Amid the banality, however heartfelt, Carey is a welcome surprise.
IFC Entertainment
It's unlikely that Mariah Carey will be weighed down with trophies for her role in the soggy redemption movie "Tennessee," which
premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year, but her solid acting, as a diner waitress in Texas who flees an abusive cop-husband and hits the
road with two brothers, is definitely part of the Rehabilitation of Mimi. "The whole 'Glitter' experience was very, very hard to go
through," Carey says in "Tennessee"'s press notes, referring to her critically drubbed, semi-autobiographical 2001 movie; nothing spurs a
diva on more than proving people wrong. MC's Lone Star twang is consistent, and when she disappears from the action, staying behind in Nashville
while the brothers board a Knoxville-bound Greyhound, you wish she'd come back, with her cornrows, kerchiefs and acoustic guitar, to save us
from the siblings working out their still-simmering family trauma. Perhaps all Carey needed to regain onscreen confidence was the unwavering support of
"Tennessee" producer Lee Daniels; judging from the amazing performance the singer gives in the upcoming "Precious," which Daniels
directed, it's clear he's her charm.
Philadelphia Daily News
The little indie "Tennessee" squeezes super-celeb diva Mariah Carey into the humble role of Texas truck stop waitress.
It's a fairly meaty role (pardon the pun - she added weight for the part) and Carey does some surprisingly subtle work. She doesn't pick up a
guitar and croon until the end of the movie, and even then, it's not the same gal you saw in "Glitter."
News Blaze
Mariah Carey is more than just the big star in this small story. She's the warm, charismatic, and deliciously down home presence that
spontaneously fills the screen with charm to spare, in this comparatively weak and maudlin story. Though it's unfortunate and rather lopsided,
that the details of her own character lack the attention and depth lavished upon the male protagonists.
Hollywood.Com
Tennessee's real revelation is Mariah Carey as Krystal, a Texas waitress stuck in a dead-end marriage to a not-so-kind police
officer. Seeing a way out, she joins up with the brothers and accompanies them as far as Nashville, where her dreams of a music career get an unexpected
boost. Carey is completely authentic and memorable, particularly in a scene where she gets to sing in an open mic contest. This mega-pop
star can finally put the disaster of her notorious flop, 2001's Glitter, far behind her... Carey does a splendid job on an original song,
"Right to Dream," in the small Nashville club where she gets a chance to sing. Key to the scene's believability is that we see her as
Krystal, a small-town aspiring performer, and not superstar Mariah Carey when she's up there on stage... Like many independently-made dramas, this one
will struggle to stay afloat in theaters. Hopefully, it will have a strong afterlife on DVD, where many more people will happily discover that Mariah
can actually act!