crazy heart

jeff bridges performance is the reason "crazy heart" is getting a lot of oscar attention.  it should get your attention too as it is a good little film. it's sweet, funny, entertaining, and manages to make country and western music listenable- is that a word?

bridges plays a washed up, drunkard, country and western singer who hits the skids playing bowling alleys in towns like clovis, new mexico.  we learned that bridges is musical from "the fabulous baker boys". we learned he can play an alcoholic in "the morning after".  we learned that he is a phenomenal actor in "starman"(he was robbed of an oscar). so we knew he could play this role.  he does it so effortlessly you don't even see him doing it.  he just morphs into kris kristofferson right before your eyes and you can't even see the wires.  bridges gives the best performance i've seen this year.  it's so good you don't really realize it until after the film is over.  it's a non performance.

maggie gylenhaal keeps up with bridges nicely as his possible love connection- the girl who always makes the wrong choices or she wouldn't be with him.  a big surprise for me was when colin ferrell walked onto the screen.  how come nobody mentioned that little bonus?  and he sings!!  ferrell plays a one time student to bridges character "bad blake", who surpasses and leaves him behind in the dust as he becomes c&w's new "it" boy.  robert duval shows up as blake's friend and sometime employer.  he also reminds us that this movie is easier to watch than his own "tender mercies"- duval's 1983 counterpart.

based on the novel by thomas cobb, scott cooper only wanted two things in order to do this movie-  jeff bridges and t bone burnett. thankfully for us he got both. burnett wrote the music that was good enough for me to think about buying the soundtrack which is saying a lot given how much i detest c&w music.  i won't buy it, but i did consider it.  cooper and cobb deliver a believable story about people and turning points. it's never too late too turn your life around and hopefully for bridges, it's never too late to finally win an oscar.