Directed By Scott Cooper
SYNOPSIS
Country singer Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) has led a rough life on the road... too much booze, smokes and ex-wives. He meets a young journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and falls for her and her 4 year old boy (Jack Nation.) After a car accident, Bad finds out his destructive lifestyle is killing him and stops touring. His relationship inspires him to write songs for the first time in years... but his alcoholism stands to doom their coupling.
A ho-hum movie containing an amazing performance.
You cannot begin to discuss this film without singling out the amazing job by Jeff Bridges. Bad Blake is created wholly in the flesh and seems to be a real person like Waylon Jennings who just happens to have an invisible camera on him as he goes about his life. Bridges' bushy beard ages him perfectly to give him that look of a man that lived a rough life.
It may not be his single best performance, but it's up there. Bad Blake is the sort of flawed, troubled character that Oscar likes to single out come awards time, so Bridges finally won his first statue for this film.
Who knew he could sing so well? If he wasn't such a great actor, I would definitely say he missed his calling.
The music is outstanding. It's sad what passes for country music these days doesn't hold a candle to these songs. Music producer T-Bone Burnett was also responsible for the soundtracks to O Brother Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain (among others) and this collection of songs is just as strong.
Storywise, the film offers little new. It's your typical troubled musician story that plays like a dramatized version of VH-1's Behind The Music. The script feels like it's puzzled, unsure whether to tell a plot-driven story or deliver a character study... so it does a bit of both and moves at an unsteady and unsure pace.
The Bridges/Gyllenhall relationship is a bit awkward, as is their chemistry.The whole 'lonely single mother looking for any man's attention' cliche is in full effect. But that doesn't bring the film down... and in fact helps flesh out the Bad Blake character.
Crazy Heart is not a very original tale, but it's one that is made great by Jeff Bridges amazing portrayal.
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