Scene from Crazy Heart. Photo supplied.
A wild and crazy delight.
Crazy
Heart
Director: Scott Cooper
Cast: Jeff Bridges, James Keane, Ryan Bingham,
Beth Grant, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jack Nation, Robert Duvall,
Colin Farrell
Rating: (M)
4 stars (out of 5)
Reviewed by Mark Orton.
Jeff Bridges deserves an Oscar for his role as Bad Blake in
Crazy Heart.
Comparisons with "The Dude" from the Coens' classic The
Big Lebowski are inevitable, but to focus on this would
be to miss the point.
There is nothing challenging or unique about Crazy
Heart.
But watching Bridges as a chain-smoking, whisky-drinking
troubadour grumble his way from one bourbon-soaked fleapit to
the next is mesmerising.
Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Keith Richards all
rolled into one, Bad Blake (Bridges) has seen the end of one
whisky bottle too many.
Bad is a poster child for the pitfalls of alcoholism, with
plenty of regrets, failed relationships and barely a buck to
his name.
The only thing that might stir old Blake out of his
alcohol-fuelled haze is a lady.
Enter Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) as an attractive journalist
who falls under his roguish spell.
Chockful of amusing anecdotes centred on Blake's
self-deprecating mannerisms, the clichéd story and loose
threads really don't matter.
With the brilliance of T-Bone Burnett heading the music
production and Bridges adding little character nuances like
the art of eating of a steak while smoking, Crazy
Heart is fantastic.
Best thing: Bad Blake's throwaway lines
about life; seldom does such good dialogue get this kind of
performance.
Worst thing: While I'm willing to suspend
disbelief that an attractive young journo could fall for a
wreck like Blake, I'm less willing to believe he could give
up alcohol with a 12-step programme and barely shed a bead of
sweat.
See it with: Any fan of Americana. The
soundtrack alone is simply brilliant.
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