Crazy Heart Review

Published by Jeff Leins on: December 15th, 2009

In Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges delivers the performance of his career as a has-been country music singer scraping out a living on the open road.  His rumbling Southern drawl often slides into the slurs of a worn and weary alcoholic when he’s not warbling through a tune with his own impressive singing voice.  Emotions spill out in the bluesy songs, but Bridges is at his best in the quiet moments alone, exposing nuanced signs of regret with either a bottle of whiskey or a guitar in his hand.

The first glimpse of Bridges’ “Bad” Blake is drunkenly stumbling from his beat-up Suburban (named Bessie, by the way) and pouring a jug of his own urine into the parking lot of a bowling alley gig.  It’s a filthy glimpse of how far the gray, grizzled man has fallen from a once famous perch as an arena headliner and respected songwriter.

This is one of many stops in an endless tour of dingy dive bars Blake has been relegated to for money.  Shot on location in the Southwest, writer/director Scott Cooper captures the vast desert landscapes that stretch between saloons sparsely attended by simple rednecks.

In Santa Fe, Blake meets a young newspaper reporter named Jean, who Maggie Gyllenhaal portrays as a sensual, down-to-earth single mother who has been wronged by the wrong man too many times.  Through her probing questions, the legend lets his guard down about the origins of his music and his sullied past, dismissively at first but with an ever-increasing feeling of regret for the consequences of his lifestyle.  Self-destruction resulted in four failed marriages, the alienation of a now-adult son, and the separation of his successful band.

Blake’s protege, Tommy Sweet (a surprisingly mild character for a pony-tailed Colin Farrell), has risen to stardom while his mentor’s career sank to the bottom of a bottle.  Sweet’s polished persona is an indictment of what the country music genre has become, a pre-packaged, Hollywood-ized cast of beautiful faces over true, hard-living musicians. 

Plot conflicts come from Blake encountering his musical apprentice and what they’ve both become, struggling with writing new songs to recapture a piece of the former glory, and falling for Jean who embodies the fondness for music, family, and love that he had forgotten years ago.

Blake’s heart-breaking tale is the material of most country songs: women, drinking, smoking, love, loss and an old truck, though not necessarily in that order.  Producer T. Bone Burnett (O Brother Where Art Thou? and Walk the Line) and late musician Stephen Bruton wrote the catchy lyrics — this is coming from a person who loathes country music — and coached Bridges into singing shape.

The slow burning story plays out to the wandering twangs of the steel guitar, carried by the award-worthy turn by its multi-talented lead.  Crazy Heart is worth the look for Bridges’ brilliance, especially if you’re a Southern gentleman who loves his country music as much as he loves his booze.

4 out of 5.