Whole worlds have been tamed by men who ate biscuits.

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2010)

Crazy Heart is written and directed by Scott Cooper and based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb. It stars Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell & Robert Duvall. Bridges plays Bad Blake, a veteran country singer/songwriter who is down on his luck but always full of the booze. Embarking on another weary tour of dead-end towns, his life perks up when he meets young newspaper reporter Jean Craddock (Gyllenhaal) and her son Buddy (Jack Nation).
Apparently Bad Blake is based on three real men, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard. With Scott Cooper saying he had hoped to make a biopic about Haggard but the rights were too difficult to obtain. Of further interest is that the Cobb novel is actually inspired by country singer Hank Thompson.
Crazy Heart is the type of movie that crops up from time to time that finds a wide and appreciative audience. That of the human interest story that beats a true and uplifting heart. That Crazy Heart has found the afore mentioned audience is mainly down to Bridges and his very affecting turn as the pathetic drunk resorting to what equates as singing for his beer money. For in truth the story is generic and straight forward, and one can guarantee you will have seen this before, and done much better in fact. But this is still fine story telling, a good movie propelled by rich characterisations {Gyllenhaal too is excellent} and paced with almost elegiac precision, that allows the humanistic elements to carry the audience to a fitting, if not surprising, finale. There's also value in the music on offer, with memorable tunes and note worthy renditions given by Bridges and Farrell. Barry Markowitz's photography also blends nicely with the narrative. His shooting of New Mexico lends itself to beauty and offers hope to Blake's future, while the tone down lighting for the dim bars that Bad is singing in brings to the fore the lowness that the singer has now reached. Bridges has done far better work than this, but who would deny him the Oscar for Best Actor that duly came his way at ceremony time? It's a great performance, tho, one that totally engages the viewers. At times infuriating & pathetic, yet at others he be charming and grasping our pity by the truck load. That both he and Gyllenhaal make a believable couple is the best compliment one can give them both. Their efforts in this movie deserve a look.
A simple redemptive story is lifted to greater heights by Gyllenhaal refusing to let her character be a cipher, and Bridges doing heart-breaking like few others can. 7/10