A good film that avoids cheap sentimentality and delivers an adult experience

Rating: 8/10 (14 May 2010)

Like the plays and poems of William Shakespeare that emerge, James Shapiro notwithstanding, from the private pain of the author's life experience, country music comes from the sadness and personal longing of the songwriter. This has never been more clearly displayed than in Crazy Heart, the first feature by director Scott Cooper, the film that won an Oscar for Jeff Bridges. Based on a novel by Thomas Cobb, Bridges is country singer Bad Blake who is barely making it as a performer, beset by booze, a big stomach, and an unattractive beard. He was once a famous performer but now is limited to sing in saloons and bowling alleys but still draws a crowd because of his reputation.
Although the character doesn't seem to care any more, Bridges talent as a performer is so great that the viewer will follow him all the way to the bottom if necessary. Blake is a poet as well as a musician and, like Jaques, the exiled lord and traveller in Shakespeare's As You Like It, can "suck melancholy out of a song, as a weasel sucks eggs". Redemption of sorts, however, comes in the form of Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhall) who turns up in his hotel room for an interview. Jean, a single mother, who has to care for a four year-old son takes a personal interest in Blake and their mutual loneliness and disillusionment brings them together and also pulls them apart. While Crazy Heart is a sweet and gentle film that has a lot of humanity, it does not contain the kind of powerful conflict that would set it apart and make it truly memorable. Yet it is a good film that avoids cheap sentimentality and delivers an adult experience for adults, not an everyday occurrence in this age of super heroes.