Pretty good

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2014)

I never saw this back when it came out, it seemed like a career Oscar for bridges. Having now seen it, no way this performance would've gotten traction had Bridges not been known. it's not a very dramatic, very showy piece of work, and it's definitely such a surprise it was able to garner such enthusiasm from different people and from the Academy as a whole. Bridges is still great though, just not what you'd expect. Maggie Gyllenhaal is also really effective. Her character doesn't have a whole lot of notes to play but she does everything pretty well and while her Oscar nod came as a real shock, not totally undeserving. It's a nice performance, in a nice but unextraordinary film.