Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight)
Perfect Match Of A Man And A Role
Jeff Bridges has had a long and illustrious film career but he has never had the perfect role until now. That role is as Bad Blake, a country musician, in the film Crazy Heart. If ever a man was destined to play a role it is this one. As Blake, Bridges looks world weary but is still appealing, and he makes the movie appealing too.
Bad Blake has had an up and down career in the world of country music, and when the film opens he is in one of the down cycles. He is criss-crossing the western states playing in bars and even bowling alleys.
His protge Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) is on top and is packing them in. He extends Blake a chance to open for him and also asks for any new songs he has written. Seeing Sweet so successful is difficult for Blake as this reminds him of his own glory days. Alcohol, tobacco and too much carousing have led him to the place he now inhabits.
Things perk up when he agrees to an interview with a female reporter in Santa Fe. Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a single mother to a four year old son. When she begins to interview Blake she has no personal interest in him at all but that soon changes. She opens her heart and her life to him.
The film is a chronicle of a mans road to destruction, which is only altered in the face of a personal tragedy. Blake has so many demons and so much guilt about his life that he doesnt see any way up. Yet there is always his music that is his constant friend.
Bridges is amazing as Blake. He looks dissolute but he manages to keep a charming spirit in his eyes. His chemistry with Gyllenhaal adds greatly to the entertainment value of the film. Farrell adds a soulful charm as Tommy and Robert Duvall scores as one of Blakes oldest friends.
Also adding to the films enjoyment is a lyrical assortment of songs as well as stunning photography of the panorama of the western landscape. These elements plus the acting and the story make Crazy Heart a movie you do not want to miss.
The movie is rated R for profanity and some sexual situations.
Jeff Bridges performance is the key ingredient of the film and the main reason people are going to see it, but the film is more than him. It has a tender love story, a message in the script, and some great music that enhances it all. Crazy Heart is not a perfect movie but it is a genuinely enjoyable one.
I scored Crazy Heart a maniacal 7 out of 10.
