Title: Crazy Heart (2009)Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell
Directed By: Scott Cooper
I've always kind of hated it when reviewers call someone's performance a "tour de force". It's a term that has never made sense to me in this medium. They're just doing their job as actors. Shouldn't it be "the standard" that someone's performance is so good you believe them as that character unconditionally? And then everything less would just be a crap performance, right?
I think when people use "tour de force" they're referring to the type of performance that Jeff Bridges puts forth as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. The story became almost unnecessary compared to what I was seeing from Bridges. I just wanted to see more and more of Bad Blake. It wouldn't have mattered who he was with or where they were, I just wanted more. Here Bridges completely loses himself in his character, he IS Bad Blake. And he's fascinating to watch.
I did like the plot. It's essentially a coming-of-age story turned on its side. It follows an aging alcoholic country singer who feels his career and his life may be slipping away, and how he discovers who he really is while dealing with that.
The entire cast is outstanding, especially Maggie Gyllenhaal & Colin Farrell. At first I didn't think I'd buy their respective relationships with Bad. But I did! Maggie plays Jean as strong and independent but still vulnerable and open to love. Farrell plays a commercially successful country artist who wouldn't be where he is if not for the help and guidance of Bad at the start of his career. With his subtle, humble performance the character of Tommy Sweet comes across as gracious and sincere instead of callous. There is real respect between the two, and that shines through on the screen. It was great too, to see Robert Duvall (who also produced) playing so well off of Bridges.
The film is solid throughout in terms of pacing, but it does seem to linger just a little too long in some bits and skip too quickly over others. There were times where I would have liked to stay with Bad. Such as when he was dealing with his addiction. Instead of spending so much time establishing how bad it really was only to fast forward to him already recovering, it might have been nice to see a little bit of the ACTUAL recovery process. It's just a minor quibble though. My only other complaint would be that I had hoped for a little more music. The soundtrack is great (even for a non-country-lover like myself). It would've been nice if they could have squeezed a few more minutes of music performances in there and take the film up to an even 2 hrs.
If you're a fan of Jeff Bridges, or great performances in general, you owe it to yourself to see this film. Highly recommended.
Score: 8.5/10
I've always kind of hated it when reviewers call someone's performance a "tour de force". It's a term that has never made sense to me in this medium. They're just doing their job as actors. Shouldn't it be "the standard" that someone's performance is so good you believe them as that character unconditionally? And then everything less would just be a crap performance, right?
I think when people use "tour de force" they're referring to the type of performance that Jeff Bridges puts forth as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. The story became almost unnecessary compared to what I was seeing from Bridges. I just wanted to see more and more of Bad Blake. It wouldn't have mattered who he was with or where they were, I just wanted more. Here Bridges completely loses himself in his character, he IS Bad Blake. And he's fascinating to watch.
I did like the plot. It's essentially a coming-of-age story turned on its side. It follows an aging alcoholic country singer who feels his career and his life may be slipping away, and how he discovers who he really is while dealing with that.
The entire cast is outstanding, especially Maggie Gyllenhaal & Colin Farrell. At first I didn't think I'd buy their respective relationships with Bad. But I did! Maggie plays Jean as strong and independent but still vulnerable and open to love. Farrell plays a commercially successful country artist who wouldn't be where he is if not for the help and guidance of Bad at the start of his career. With his subtle, humble performance the character of Tommy Sweet comes across as gracious and sincere instead of callous. There is real respect between the two, and that shines through on the screen. It was great too, to see Robert Duvall (who also produced) playing so well off of Bridges.
The film is solid throughout in terms of pacing, but it does seem to linger just a little too long in some bits and skip too quickly over others. There were times where I would have liked to stay with Bad. Such as when he was dealing with his addiction. Instead of spending so much time establishing how bad it really was only to fast forward to him already recovering, it might have been nice to see a little bit of the ACTUAL recovery process. It's just a minor quibble though. My only other complaint would be that I had hoped for a little more music. The soundtrack is great (even for a non-country-lover like myself). It would've been nice if they could have squeezed a few more minutes of music performances in there and take the film up to an even 2 hrs.
If you're a fan of Jeff Bridges, or great performances in general, you owe it to yourself to see this film. Highly recommended.
Score: 8.5/10
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