* * * (out of 4)
Rating: R (strong language, sexuality)
Director: Scott Cooper
Am I crazy for not loving “Crazy Heart”? It seems everyone is already waiting to hear Jeff Bridges’ first Oscar acceptance speech. “Crazy Heart” has everything going for it; a heck of a performance from Jeff Bridges, country music, and it’s an indie film about brushing off busted-down dreams. It even has Robert Duvall, one of the greatest actors around. The problem was we’ve seen it before, haven’t we? Wasn’t it called “Tender Mercies” and didn’t Duvall win his Best Actor Oscar for it? Still, this new version features high quality acting, so it’s just a disappointment when it comes to originality.
How many times do we have to sit through this character (an alcoholic with a heart of gold) on film? Unless the role is written more brilliantly than Mickey Rourke’s in “Barfly,” or (in a totally different way) Dudley Moore’s in “Arthur,” don’t bother. It’s been done before… by the likes of Robert Duvall, Jack Lemmon, Nicolas Cage, Paul Newman, William Holden, Kris Kristofferson, and Jason Robards, to name just a few.
And now Jeff Bridges does the best he can with the role. He plays Bad Blake - a down on his luck, alcoholic, country singer/songwriter. There isn’t a wrong note in his performance, but the movie doesn’t provide much range to begin with. Unfortunately, Hollywood loves to get country wrong. (Let’s face it, even his name is corny.) Bridges tries hard not to be predictable. The resulting character study is a likable mix of Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and every other country music badass that ever played a one-night stand at a bowling alley after the peak of his career.
The movie is classic melodrama, and the audience can’t wait to feel sorry for him. Every scene is designed for an immediate emotional (although small) payoff, with no regard for the greater issues at stake in these characters lives. It gives the film a rather mushy center and makes the obvious wait to see him clean up his act seem like an eternity.
Along the road to nowhere, Blake meets up with a local reporter Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) that he takes a liking to. She is clearly the best thing that has happened to him in years. The relationships in the film all feel true and honest. There are some tender moments of quiet understanding, especially between Blake and Jean’s young son-in-need-of-a-father-figure (played by Jack Nation). First time director Scott Cooper does an adequate job of keeping the words of first time screenwriter Scott Cooper within the realm of truth. That’s not easy.
Poor Jeff Bridges has to play opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal. If I have to see her try to act her way through one more movie by playing with an earring or running her fingers through her hair instead of actually acting, I’m going to stop going to the movies altogether. Or at least her movies, anyway. The other co-star in “Crazy Heart” is Colin Farrell. He plays Tommy Sweet. (Again with the corny names. Where are we – on TV’s “Hee Haw”?) Farrell pretends to be a complicated country star on the rise, but he doesn’t have one ounce of the stage charisma of any number of today’s top country stars. The acting demands of this part are minimal, so it’s a shame that this movie missed the opportunity to present a bona-fide country talent to a broader movie-going audience. It would have been a much better film if it featured Chuck Wicks, Joe Nichols, Justin Moore, or any number of hat acts currently on the country charts.
“Crazy Heart” is one of those country music movies that is meant for people who are ambivalent about country music. The music is familiar, and easy to digest, because it was produced and written by T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton. They supply music that doesn’t get in the way, but unfortunately it sounds like the kind of country music that was around 25 years ago (but not even on the charts then). It is music that comes from a long line of tradition, and it has its appeal (especially to show that Bad Blake hasn’t grown artistically over the past couple decades) but to use these songs to support a character like Tommy Sweet (who represents the hyper-pop/rock/country scene of today) is laughable.
The New Mexico backdrop looks exactly like you want it to. It is a fantasy of the country road experience that has little to do with reality; there are lots of sunsets, trains in the distance, and everyone wears a piece of turquoise jewelry. (And if you see the film, please email me let me know just where I can find that red telephone booth in the middle of nowhere in the desert. Thanks, I’d like to visit it next time I pass through Arizona.)
As for supporting character Robert Duvall (who also co-produced the film), it’s a case of déjà-vu all over again. One of Duvall’s greatest roles was in the film “Tender Mercies.” It was a movie that told much the same story, and with basically the same characters (a broken down country singer, healed by a woman and her young son). But it was ground breaking in its simplicity. To see it all over again, with a generic country soundtrack imposed on it tarnishes memories of Duvall’s work on the original.
Still, when Bad Blake announces “I used to be somebody, but now I’m somebody else,” there is no denying that with “Crazy Heart,” Jeff Bridges (loved by many for his portrayal of ‘Dude’ in “The Big Lebowski”) is very likely the man to beat for this year’s Best Actor Oscar. (These are the roles that aging Hollywood actresses are always bitching about… no one writes these stock roles for old broads like they do year after year for old dudes.) Bridges has shown that he can create more than one memorable role in his career, and he will likely be rewarded for it. He finds a way to make you care about this guy, and that’s not easy. But like a poorly written country song, it’s a shame that it’s so predictable… especially the script.
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