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.
