The endless road of drunken nights and shattered dreams, traveled in so many country songs and movies, is good for one more trip in Crazy Heart. Playing a washed-up music legend reduced to playing small-town bowling alleys, Jeff Bridges steals the show as a cowboy crooner wrestling with his demons in ways that charm an audience's sympathies.
At the outset, when seen bellying up to the bar in said bowling alley with his bushy gray beard, and hauling his heavy frame around on legs that seem on the verge of collapse, Bridges' Bad Blake momentarily triggers the image of an errant older brother of Dude in The Lebowski. While Crazy Heart isn't quite the timeless classic Lebowski is, Bridges playing the perennially soused is, once again, award-worthy.
He's a man with a blurry past, even if its one that closely skirts generic norms. Licing "up" to the rugged country singer ways of the old, Blake's had several wives and a slew of women, a son he hasn't seen in years, and a relationship with a young protege - current country sensation Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrel) - the one subject he refuses to speak of when interviewed by young New Mexico writer Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal).
Adapting a novel by Thomas Cobb, debuting director Scott Cooper sets the tale in a recognizable Southwest that's a touch more modern than your stereotypical rural town. Plotwise, there's nothing entirely surprising; more smitten with Jen than he might have imagined, Blake tries to build the relationship, but he soon hits a wall on several fronts.
The roughly 30-year age difference raises some eyebrows, but Gyllenhaal makes it clear that Jean takes the plunge with Blake of her own volition. Further, it takes a minute to adjust to Colin Farrell portraying a country sensation, but he quickly convinces by playing against all expectations. However, these are mere foils for Bridges' performance, which proves his place as one ofHollywood
The roughly 30-year age difference raises some eyebrows, but Gyllenhaal makes it clear that Jean takes the plunge with Blake of her own volition. Further, it takes a minute to adjust to Colin Farrell portraying a country sensation, but he quickly convinces by playing against all expectations. However, these are mere foils for Bridges' performance, which proves his place as one of
My Rating: a "must-see"
Content taken from Variety
I may need to see this one. I'm not the movie buff or avid movie goer that you are but perhaps I'll make it to this one.
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