TV & Film Review

Crazy Heart

Feature Film | Scott Cooper
By Jim Allen

Crazy Heart’s organic, offhand sensibility gels perfectly with its gritty setting.

First-time director Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart has been reductively described as "Tender Mercies meets The Wrestler." But while Cooper's film bears elements of both, it still stakes out its own turf. Jeff Bridges won his first Oscar for his warts-and-all portrayal of the ragged, shambolic Bad Blake, whose alcoholism expedites the downward slide of his health, career, and personal life. Neither Cooper nor Bridges shies away from depicting the decayed state of both Blake's circumstances and body, but Bridges also makes us believe in the charm that keeps people in Blake's orbit, and offers a convincing portrayal of the artist's semi-dormant talent. (Bridges gamely sang all his own parts as well.) While the plot points concerning Blake's former protégé (Colin Farrell) who graduated to celebrity status may be a touch contrived, the tentative relationship between Blake and the much younger reporter Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) feels lived-in and real. Crucially, none of the key scenes are played for pathos; Cooper and his cast maintain an organic, offhand sensibility that gels perfectly with the gritty nightclubs-and-cheap-motels setting and T-Bone Burnett's note-perfect score.

TAGS: Alcoholism, Comeback Story, Country Music, Fame, Father-Son Relationships, Has-Been, Music Business, Singer-Songwriter,

FACTS: Released: December 16, 2009 (Butcher's Run Films); MPAA: R; Runtime: 112 minutes; Cast: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell

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Crazy Heart Trailer