When watching Jeff Bridges in the film Crazy Heart, I didn’t feel like I was watching an actor playing a role, it felt like I was watching Waylon Jennings or Kris Kristofferson in a movie. Jeff Bridges so inhabited the essence of a country music singer that if you told me he was going to be playing next week at the local amphitheater, I’d totally believe it. From his guitar playing to his singing to his weathered cowboy look, Jeff Bridges could go out on tour right now and be completely successful at it.
In Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges is Bad Blake, a hard core country artist on the downside of fifty. His last original song was over seven years ago and his prodigy (Colin Farrell) who he mentored into a serious musician, is now busting out of Nashville and playing the big arenas. Meanwhile, Blake is relegated to small clubs, bars and bowling alleys. Bad Blake is a little bitter that country music has left him behind, but everyone reminds him that he still has the goods, he just needs to focus and write some new material.
When a young reporter takes an interest in Bad, he is forced to take a look at himself and face his alcoholic condition. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the reporter who is also a single mom. She grows to love Bad and sees the genius under his beat down exterior. But she has a little boy to be thinking about and as a mom, she must put him first.
As well as Jeff Bridges, Colin Farrell also does his own signing in this film. He would fit in perfectly in the country music world. He has the look, the persona, and the humble country attitude. Robert Duvall plays a bar owner friend, and T-Bone Burnet provides provides plenty of original country music. Country Music is about life, love and loss, and Bad Blake has seen it all. Jeff Bridges proves that he’s seen things, too.
Rating: First Run One of Jeff Bridges finest performances
About Me
- Melanie Wilson
- My Reviewer's Philosophy: I believe that every film has its audience. One man’s Citizen Kane is another man’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre. My purpose is to help you spend your entertainment dollars wisely. A bad review never kept me from going to a film I wanted to see, but a good review will sometimes get me to a film I never considered. As a movie lover I want you to go to the movies. When more people go to the movies, the more movies get made. But, I also believe that if you enjoy the films you see, you naturally will be inclined to go more often. So join me in supporting our film industry by going to a movie today. Hopefully I can steer you towards a good one. See you at the movies. Melanie Wilson
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