PICK UP THAT CRAZY HEART...

I’m almost out of Oscar® winners and nominees to review. But one of the ones I was looking forward to the most was in fact Crazy Heart. I love Jeff Bridges and I was very glad to hear he won the Oscar® (this kind of thing is the height of “identification” I suppose – great stars like Jeff Bridges end up being a kind of family friend!). The film itself is very well directed and very well acted but it didn’t knock my socks off either…

I guess you know the story – line but here’s a short “résumé” anyways. Crazy Heart is the story of country singer Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) . A great star of yore, he is now an alcoholic and a nobody to most in the music industry (except a handful of loyal fans). He tours the country, playing in bowling alleys and small bars growing more bitter with every passing day. Yet one day a chance of redemption crosses his path in the shape of the beautiful reporter Jean Craddock (Maggie Gylenhaal). As their relationship grows, Bad is forced to face his demons… Unfortunately, it is by no means clear whether he will be able to beat them or not…

This film will be a mixed bag for some, despite its quality. The direction is superb; I particularly enjoyed a couple of nods to the Big Lebowski. (I mean I have only seen the film once, but the sight of Jeff Bridges sitting at a bar in a bowling alley was more than able to ring some bells ;) ) Jeff Bridges, in a word, surpasses himself. But, of course you know what everyone’s going to say… “It’s a slightly softer version of “The Wrestler””. I’m sorry to say I tend to agree with them… And it seems almost ironic; Mickey Rourke was also up for an Oscar ® for Best Actor last year with a very similar role. Some said he should have got it. Now Jeff Bridges has it. Don’t get me wrong, both gave outstanding performances that were in no way “similar” to the others but still… It feels like the Academy was “righting a wrong” more than anything else if you see what I mean… To give you an example my Mom (who was watching the film with me and had convinced me to sit down to the film in the first place) gave up and went to bed half an hour later saying that she had “seen it all before”. I watched it until the end and enjoyed it immensely. All in all, an outstanding performance. Again.