Beautifully mellow and sensitive

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2015)

Good drama. Plot is decent, but not perfect. Direction is good, but the movie does drift at times. However, the movie is made by the acting of Jeff Bridges, the general feel of the movie and the great soundtrack.
Jeff Bridges' Best Actor Oscar was well deserved, and came after four previous nominations (and several performances which should have been nominated, eg The Big Lebowski, The Fisher King) without an award.
The supporting cast - Maggie Gyllenhaal (especially), Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell - also give good performances.
The movie has a beautiful mellowness and sensitivity to it.
I am not a fan of country music, but the soundtrack is superb. Featuring original music mostly written by T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton, and being more rock than country, it helps the movie along, and is excellent in its own right. Amazingly, Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell sang their own songs - there were no overdubs - and sounded like the real thing. Colin Farrell is particularly impressive.
Overall, not a perfect movie, but a great one nevertheless.