Crazy Heart (2009)

I did not know that Jeff Bridges won an Oscar for this until I was a quarter into it. I was shocked. The first thing I thought was that it must have been a very weak field, indeed. I love Jeff Bridges but you can see every bone in his body acting as he tries but fails to find the character or a great performance. Too obvious, insincere Kristofferson gravely voice. He has done better and for which he deserved an Oscar. Shame he got one for this, and I imagine he is more than a little sheepish, esp if he is the genuine actor I think he is and can still see through his ego.This movie has been made many times, and much, much better. Tender Mercies, Payday, A Star is Born, Rock Star (even the Kristofferson version is much, much better than this movie, and you get the real guy). Not to mention more recent fare, like Walk the Line and the James Brown biopic (I dare you to compare Juaquin Phoenix's Johnny Cash to Bridges here!). That is a list of movies to see and unlike this one, they are memorable in a way that makes you rewatch them. True Oscar worthy performances in many. There is not a creative bone anywhere in this movie. The writing and direction are phoned in. Character motivation is zip, esp for Maggie Gyllenhaal, which makes the relationship between them gross. No convincing motivation for anyone. Colin Farrell is the class of the cast in his small role as Bridges' old student now famous. In a *good* movie, Farrell wouldn't have stood out as much, as the bar would have been so much higher and Farrell's performance expected.Robert Duvall has a couple scenes (fitting, since this tries to be Tender Mercies II) and in one he manages to completely negate and dehumanize a Mexican immigrant. The truly sad thing and why I bring this up is that this scene is completely redundant and unnecessary. Duvall speaks Spanish to a guy he calls 'Jesus', who is pushing a mop pail across the floor. Duvall abruptly says, irritated, "Someday I am going to teach you English!". When Juan or Bridges (I forget and am NOT watching it again) points out that his name is really Juan, Duvall says, "Juan, Jesus, whatever your name is, who cares?" Juan is immediately turned into "one of those". The man is not important enough to be correctly named. Just "one of THEM", even though he is the only one left who is helping keep the bar open and has perhaps known Duvall a while. No, there was no appearance of Duvall being a spacey old coot, just mean-spirited and as if Juan was generic and replaceable, as many see immigrants. Duvall is powerful enough that he doesn't have to speak lines like that, but he did. I am just wondering how desperate Richard Gallegos was to do the role of Juan. They could have written any character into that role. Duvall's character's crusty old wife, a crusty old friend, his son, his best friend, and on and on. To be fair, the doctor who attends Bridges', earlier, seems to be Hispanic (they ARE in New Mexico and Arizona, after all) and that was a very good call. But that good diversity moment was negated with this unforgivable, stereotypical and insulting scene. But the director must take all responsibility for this nonsense, in the end. So he has written a terrible script (not just because of this, which seemed ad libbed, anyway) and directed a terrible movie, shot like a commercial, only slower. We never get a good look at some of the beautiful scenery the movie is shot in. I have lived in the southern New Mexico wasteland and was looking forward to that odd beauty, as well as driving into the gorgeous mountains as you go north, but the cinematographer doesn't allow us to settle our gaze upon the scenery.

Not everyone deserves a second chance, what do we see in Bad Blake (Bridges)? A 57-year-old scuzzy musician on the brink of bankruptcy, touring in small bowling alleys (hey! it is the Dude himself back in his favorite haunt) and bars to make ends meet, what is more pathetic, he is an inveterate alcoholic. But, he is a legend of his profession, though he has been on the downturn for too long and alcohol seriously bogs down his songwriting gift along with his health, now he basically banks on his old discography to attract his die-hard/desperate groupies and holds an invidious grudge towards his protégé Tommy Sweet (Farrell), who is the red-hot country star now, but becomes more and more independent from him.CRAZY HEART is Scott Cooper's debut film which finally won Jeff Bridges an Oscar more for his overdue status (5th time is the charm) than the calibre of the performance per se. There is no denying of the country-veteran finesse on stage from the musically inclined Bridges, which rightfully should also be obliged to a killing soundtrack cooked up by Mr. Burnett and the late Stephen Bruton. Mr. Bridges certainly goes out on a limb to make Bad Blake a thorough and convincing transformation from a down-and-out performer lolling in his dim motels watching Mexican soapie to a smitten soul resuscitated by a May-December romance with a young singer- mother-cum-journalist Jean Craddock (Gyllenhaal), we see him drinking, performing, vomiting, meeting-cute, touring with Sweet, parenting, drinking, panicking, repenting, drinking, vomiting until he passes out in his bathroom, then drying-out and finally he can write some new materials, the trajectory is ever-familiar, but proffers carte blanche for Mr. Bridges to rescue his character from his self-destructive morass and render as much sympathy as possible.But the plot takes some arbitrary licenses in their doomed romance, for instance, if one intends to blame Bad's alcoholism for the incident causes the riff between him and Jean, the approach should have been more specific, in lieu of simply making a toddler disappear even before Bad is visibly well-oiled, which seems to imply that Jean is over-reacting in the aftermath (because the scenario could happen to everyone other than those who are under the influence), to shift some burden from Bad's behavior to Jean, and harshly intimate that she might not be such a saintly savior as we see, albeit in our moral compass, whoever is brave enough to kiss that alcohol and smoke soused mouth, then subsequently falls in love with a character like Bad Blake, must be a self-sacrificing angel!Ms. Gyllenhaal usurps an Oscar nomination too, but her character is pigeonholed into a generic love interest slot, with no further delving into her psyche except for her overbearing maternal protection towards her son, also in the love-making shots, there are tangible awkwardness between her and Bridges, perhaps, both are too self-aware of their gaping age difference, against Cooper's conspicuous endeavor to project Jean in the centre during their making out, to pinpoint that she is literally enjoying the process, which only becomes embarrassingly risible, betrays a stinking whiff of self-boasting of a unpleasant, elder man's potency. Colin Farrell, during his limited screen-time, brings a breezy personality with his undisclosed singing bent, in a surprising way, his Tommy Sweet is not a blatant ingrate as we had anticipated (mostly influenced by Blake's steely taciturnity whenever his name pops up). At bottom, CRAZY HEART is a slightly above-par independent charmer, nevertheless doesn't live up to all the accolade it has sparked.

If I had to describe "Crazy Heart", I'd call it a country song that's been thrown up onto the big screen. And I say that in the most complimentary fashion because it's the kind of quiet, worn-down cowboy song that sneaks up behind you and does so without being ostentatious or melodramatic.The cast here all hold their own (between Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell), but it's the star turn from Jeff Bridges that really makes this shine. He embodies the pain and self-recrimination of a has-been performer on the downslope of life. Like the rest of the movie, he's organic and the award-winning performance speaks for itself. 7/10

Saw this movie tonight and I have to say: what a good surprise! It made me realize so many things and so many thoughts crossed my mind. First of all, a special honour to one of the greatest actors alive: Jeff Bridges. He is the movie! Such a good acting! This movie is such an inspiration because it can give us a refreshing perspective of life and it's all based in one sentence: It's never too late to change! It's never too late to make a new path, to love, to rebuild yourself as a person! Everybody say that life's too short ... well, this movie shows exactly that you've got to keep moving forward no matter what bad things or bad choices you make. Just keep living, keep doing good things and you'll always get payback! Highly recommended movie.