Fine performances and film-making refresh an oft-told story

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2010)

Every few years or so, some aging male star will take on the role of a broken-down has-been to remind us all of just how fine an actor he can be when he's given material that doesn't rely primarily on youth and good looks to get the job done. In 2008, it was Mickey Rourke who got to show off his acting chops in "The Wrestler," and now it's Jeff Bridges' turn in "Crazy Heart," playing a once-legendary, but now pot-bellied, whiskey-soaked country singer/songwriter - who goes by the stage name Bad Blake - who's so far past his prime that he's been reduced to performing in bowling alleys and two-bit bars just to stay financially afloat and to keep his name before the public. But, unlike Rourke, Bridges was actually rewarded with a Best Actor Oscar for all his pains. And, to top it off, he gets to sing too! (Quite well, actually).
Bridges certainly deserved his award for a performance that far transcends the stereotypes and clichés that might have foiled a lesser actor, and which lifts the movie to a plane it might otherwise never have achieved without him. The insightful, thoughtful screenplay by Scott Cooper (based on the novel by Thomas Cobb) plows some pretty familiar territory, but Bridges makes it all seem real and fresh. The same can be said for Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose role as an attractive single-mother and local writer who becomes romantically involved with Blake after she pens a story on him could easily have become stale and trite. Instead, these two fine actors play off one another so effectively that we forget we've seen this setup umpteen times before. The relationship between the two uncovers many truths about a man who's so enslaved to the bottle that he has never really grown up into a fully functioning, responsible adult - and his growing awareness that it may be high time he took some concrete steps towards rectifying that situation.
Another interesting, though less fully developed, relationship in the movie is the one between Blake and Tommy Sweet, a hot young singer (superbly played by Colin Farrell, who does his own performing as well) who, although he originally started as Blake's protégée, now enjoys the celebrity status and critical acclaim that once were Blake's for the taking.
As directed by Cooper, the movie nicely captures the look and feel of both the dusty Southwest countryside in which it's set and the seedy bars and cheap motel rooms where a good deal of the indoor action takes place.
With its world-class performances (throw Robert Duvall into that mix), intelligent writing and sensitive direction, "Crazy Heart" has all the down-home wisdom and blues-driven heartache of a good ole country tune.