Movie Review: Crazy Heart (2009)
A stellar lead performance outshines the film's faults
Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart marks the helmer's feature film directorial debut. Having also penned the screenplay, an adaptation of the Thomas Cobb novel, there are obvious decisions that were made limiting the risk of this story of an alcoholic country music singer. In fact, Crazy Heart could have gone down much darker and less clichéd paths had it dared and at the same time told greater truths about its subject matter. Instead Cooper plays it safe and relies on a powerful lead performance from Jeff Bridges and worthy supporting efforts from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Paul Herman and Robert Duvall to make it all work.
The cast includes Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Sarah Jane Morris and Colin Farrell. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Crazy Heart" is a Fox Searchlight Pictures release, directed by Scott Cooper and is rated R for language and brief sexuality. The running time is 1 hour 51 minutes.
We've seen plenty of actors recently take on the role of iconic singers and even sing the tunes themselves. Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls and Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line quickly come to mind. Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose and Jamie Foxx in Ray were lip-syncing. Both can actually sing as proven by Foxx's musical career and Cotillard's recent turn in Nine, which makes the decision for both to lip-sync proof how difficult it is to tackle the real thing.
Now imagine an actor is given the duty of creating a completely new character, a whole new persona, and on top of that having to sing songs especially written for that character — songs that define who he is and speak to the heart of the story. Therein lies Jeff Bridges's performance as Bad Blake and the quality of song writing turned in by T Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton with help from John Goodwin. Without these elements this film simply wouldn't work and I wouldn't be writing about it right now.
I'm not a country music fan, but like all music in films, if it's done right we can be a fan of any genre or musical styling no matter our personal tastes. I don't rush home to listen to Johnny Cash or Ray Charles on a regular basis, but the music from both Walk the Line and Ray are unforgettable. It just so happens the music of Crazy Heart works on a similar level, elevating the film above its up-and-down script and hitting an emotional note that wouldn't otherwise be there.
Bridges tackles the aging musical veteran with soul and purpose. He slips into Blake's skin and not only physically, but emotionally brings the character to realization. A supporting performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal is also impressive once you get over the hackneyed way in which the relationship is cultivated. I treated it as something of a "just go with it" element of the story. I was willing to forgive missteps simply because the performances are so good and because I could see where Cooper intended to go even if he had a hard time getting there.
The film's most affecting moment comes about midway through with the introduction of Colin Farrell as Tommy Sweet. A fellow critic asked me why Gyllenhaal and Bridges were gaining Oscar attention and not Farrell, to which I replied, "Because Farrell's performance isn't what makes it great, it's his character's appearance in the film that carries weight. We aren't reacting to the performance but the emotional weight his character's presence brings to the scene." This is the one major success in Cooper's script, and it wouldn't have worked if Farrell had mucked up the role, which he doesn't. But to say anymore would be to ruin the moment for you.
Any problems with the film come primarily as a result of the lack of risk taking I mentioned earlier. The final moments could have been much more lasting, but instead they perpetrate something of a lie in an attempt for a happy ending. I can understand the decision to remain safe since you don't want to send audiences home in a heap, but having already gone so cliché this was one last moment for redemption, sending audiences home with a gut punch to think about as opposed to a saunter off into the sunset. Going back to that Wrestler comparison, you won't find any such comparable risk-taking here.
What stands out instead, is masterful song writing, moments of excellence in the script and a performance from Bridges that may land him his first Oscar. These elements are rare in a film and they all make Crazy Heart a film worthy of your dollar.
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Hope he gets that Oscar.
Thanks for the review. I wasn't quite sure whether to check this one out, now i'm excited to see it.
Go Jeff Bridges!!!
I'd guess this reviewer has an acutely perceptive ear and feel for the role of music in film as his comment about the "masterful songwriting" indicates. I haven't yet seen the movie but with so much input from Stephen Bruton in the songs I'm sure Mr. Brevet's assessment is spot on. Stephen had such a love and knack for the most clever phrases and lyrics it was always a treat to be around and hear this stuff rolling out of him. And Stephen was not "just" a country musician. His influences were as diverse as the whole panoply of American music. His own music contained influences from jazz, reggae, rock, country, and more. I hope if Jeff Bridges wins the Oscar he gives some credit to Stephen, which he has been doing in various interviews so far. Stephen was truly a "diamond in the crown of creation" and is truly missed.
I have always liked films such as these. Jeff Bridges is a pretty good actor also.
This is a very superficial review of Crazy Heart. It doesn't matter how the film shows Bad Blake hitting rock bottom, it was only important that the movie do so. Taking chances, and being darker would not have helped the films messages. One of the films messages is that it's not women who civilize men, but children or women who seek to bring up their children in a civilized manner. Showing Bad Blake to be a worse character would not have made that message any clearer.
Without writing an entire essay, I'll just comment on the ending. It WAS NOT a happy ending in any way except philosophically inasmuch as it shows that if you can bring people alienated to any group into a group, the overall group can benefit, even if individual members, like Bad Blake do not. This movie actually reminded me of The Road. In fact, I was joking with someone that it was another post-apocolype movie, except that the apocolype to overcome was not everyones, but only Bad Blake's personally. (Please do not tell me that making a little more money is a happy ending. I know a Veteran who commited suicide even though he had two government pensions and money in the bank; I heard of a female newspaper reporter who, when she died, willed three quarter of a million dollars to people she had met on a bus while traveling in Europe, because she was alone, and had no one else to give the money to (they were shocked). That wasn't a happy ending either.
It's hard to write a review without spoilers, isn't it. I liked this movie because it has a lot of the truth in it, and is memorable. I highly recommend this movie.
Apoligies Brad. I should not have called your review superficial. We simply don't agree on what the film is about.