Crazy Heart

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Jack Nation
Directed by: Scott Cooper
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a tired, alcoholic country singer who is past his prime, but still working hard. His life seems to be going nowhere when he meets a pretty reporter (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her young son, and begins to reconsider the possibility of salvation for his misguided life.

Review:

Tim: I think we're at a point where the musical biopic has nearly run its course. Sure, it is interesting to hear about real people's lives, but it is funny how all musicians have a similar career trajectory- they hit it big, struggle with the success, fall into booze and drugs, hit rock bottom, and recover. It is oddly similar, and we've seen it done before. Along comes Crazy Heart- not a biopic, but it certainly feels like one. And yet, this is a very different movie, even though on the surface, it feels like we've seen it before. I entered it with mild expectations, and was surprised by how much better it was than I anticipated. This is a very solid movie.

To be honest, much of the film's success belongs to Jeff Bridges. It is easy to look at this movie as the one that finally got Bridges a much-deserved Oscar. It would be easy to suggest that his Academy Award win for Best Actor was also recognition for a career of terrific performances. That might be true, but I feel like it overlooks how terrific Bridges is in this role. His Bad Blake is an amazing character, and Bridges brings him to life with one of those career-defining performances. He isn't flashy, but he is immensely powerful in every word, action, and look. I loved him in this role, and he absolutely deserved his Academy Award win. Regardless of the dozens of terrific performances he has had throughout his career, his performance here is so good that he deserves the award based solely on the merits of this film. Sometimes I worry that people will look at a win like this as a "make up" award for passing an actor by earlier in his career. Still, Bridges gives a mesmerizing, unforgettable performance that elevates not only everyone around him- but the entire film as well.

And yet, this is not a film that is solely dependent upon its star. There are actually many other things to like about this movie. The story itself is remarkably well written. Bad Blake is fascinating because of the stage of life he is in- this is an aging, past-his-prime country musician who actually still has unbelievable talent. He has lived life so recklessly for so many years- and now, we see him as he struggles with what that means. I loved that aspect of the film.

I also loved the film's music. I am not a big country fan, but the songs in this film were outstanding, and sang with such raw emotion by the cast. I know that the song "The Weary Kind" gets much of the credit because it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but I was actually more blown away by "Fallin' & Flyin'" - particularly the duet with Bridges and Farrell. It was my favorite song of the film, and an incredibly impressive one. I was even more impressed that Bridges sang his own songs for the film. I had no idea he was such a talented singer- but this makes the movie even more incredible. His voice is perfect for Bad Blake, and lends authenticity to the film.

I also really enjoyed the supporting cast. I am not the biggest Maggie Gyllenhaal fan, but I admit she was very strong in this movie. She is a talented actress, and I really liked her emotional performance here. She and Bridges worked surprisingly well together. They were together in perhaps my favorite scene- when Bridges first writes "The Weary Kind" in her bed, and she gets upset at him. This was a terrific job on both their parts, and greatly helped the movie. I also liked Colin Farrell. I know some people thought he was miscast or gave a bad performance, but I thought he worked well. I believed him in the role, and I liked his singing. He worked well with Bridges. I was also glad to see Robert Duvall, and happy that he got a few important scenes. I just wish he had more screen time.

Crazy Heart is not a perfect movie. It does indeed have some flaws. While it is much better than many similar themed movies, it is ultimately held back a bit by those comparisons. While it did it better than most, large parts of this movie are almost exactly the same as dozens of other musical biopics. As I mentioned at the outset, there are some really predictable aspects of this film. While still very solid, we've still seen much of this before- maybe not exactly, but the main events of the film aren't exactly new. The movie does drag just a bit in a few places, and certainly could have had an even greater emotional punch. Also, I liked the ending, but I admit it could have been better.

Still, Crazy Heart was surprisingly good. I really enjoyed the movie, and it made a much more powerful and longer-lasting impact on me than I expected. Even weeks later, I still couldn't shake the story of Bad Blake or the hauntingly beautiful performance of Jeff Bridges. I highly recommend this film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Ray, Walk the Line, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Hustle & Flow, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Seabiscuit