CRAZY HEART, or 'Lebowski 2: The Dude Gets Sober'

Rating: 6/10 (28 February 2010)

There's just not much to say about CRAZY HEART that you probably wouldn't infer from its trailer, or anticipate from your still-fresh memories of THE WRESTLER. That film was a peek behind the veil of pro-wrestling, a revelation of the sensitive men behind their violent personae. Country music, however, isn't defined by a veiling of emotion – quite the opposite. Country is, almost by its nature, baldly confessional music. So sadly, CRAZY HEART never supplies the voyeuristic thrill of THE WRESTLER, because unlike the character of Randy "The Ram" as juxtaposed in and out of the ring, there's nothing about Bad Blake that's not perfectly presented in the songs he performs throughout this film – just as James Mangold's WALK THE LINE didn't really add anything to the story of Johnny Cash that listening to 'At Folsom Prison' hadn't already told you about the man.
Read my full review (and more) at STEVENSPIELBLOG.COM ...
-Greg