Movie Review: “Crazy Heart”

Seen on: December 15, 2009

The players: Director: Scott Cooper, Writer: Scott Cooper, Cast: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell

Facts of interest: Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb.

The plot: Tells the story of Bad Blake, a struggling country singer who meets a journalist and tries to change his life for the better.

Our thoughts: Jeff Bridges delivers an Oscar-worthy performance in Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart,” a heartfelt, energetic drama about a broke, alcoholic country singer looking for the road to redemption. “Heart” just now kicked off its limited theatrical run, but early buzz about Bridges’ superb acting should eventually give the film the attention it deserves.

Based on the book by Thomas Cobb, “Crazy Heart” follows the story of Bad Blake (Bridges), a veteran country singer who hasn’t recorded an album in a while and is struggling to make ends meet. Blake travels from gig to gig across the South to please his manager and make some cash, but his problem with alcohol is giving him a hard time.

Things slowly start to change for Blake when he meets and falls for Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), an ambitious journalist and single mother who recognizes the good in the musician and isn’t afraid of letting him into her personal life. For Blake, however, the real challenge is to find a way to overcome his bad habits and get his career back on the right track.

The story of “Crazy Heart” isn’t exactly one of the original kind, which explains why the script is by far not the film’s biggest asset. That would be Jeff Bridges, who overshadows the film’s conventional plot by offering cinemagoers one of the best (if not THE best) performances of the year. He’s the man who makes it all work, and it’s a pleasure to watch him.

In fact, Bridges’ acting here is so awesome that I eventually forgot I was watching an actor portray a country singer. Bad Blake is a compelling character struggling with plenty of flaws, and seeing him move from a careless drunk to a dude willing to accept a second chance is both inspiring and fascinating. Again, this is all thanks to Bridges’ fabulous work.

“Crazy Heart” stretches a bit here and there, but a bunch of superb musical sequences keep the plot operating at a fairly solid pace. T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton created an excellent soundtrack to go along with the film, and I admit it really pulled me into the movie (and I say that as someone who generally doesn’t appreciate country).

Cooper directs his film with interesting flair, but he occasionally pushes the dramatic aspect of Blake’s troubles a tad too far for my taste. That said, “Crazy Heart” is not a film suffering from clichés; it avoids them mostly because of Bridges’ immense screen presence. Luckily, his co-actors deliver the goods as well.

Gyllenhaal’s work as Jean is natural throughout the film, and her relationship with Blake never appears awkward or forced. Robert Duvall has a small role as one of Blake’s bar buddies, and in my opinion, he’s a guy who can never really go wrong in these types of films. Even Colin Farrell’s appearance as a star country singer worked for me as well.

Freaky quote: "My tombstone's gonna have my real name on it." - Jeff Bridges

The final word: There’s no need for me to dig deeper into the story of “Crazy Heart,” but then again, the story is not the most important aspect here. This is Jeff Bridges movie, and I can only hope he will get nominated and take home an Oscar for his fantastic efforts. We’ve seen many great actors slip into roles of struggling musicians, but this guy really rocks!

Article by Franck Tabouring