LAURIE COKER'S REVIEW
RATING: B+/A-

Last year?s ?The Wrestler? had people talking about Mickey Rourke and his comeback performance and while, I did find him and the film exceptional, the story?s theme and depressing tone left me feeling unsettled. This year, Jeff Bridges, not in a comeback role, plays an aging, drunken country singer in ?Crazy Heart,? co-starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, with the same intensity as Rourke did with his washed up wrestler, but the story plays out a bit less harshly and I found it overall, ultimately less gloomy. Many will call, ?The Wrestler? a superior film, and in many ways it is, but for me, a dismally darker theme can ruin my overall opinion, so I like ?Crazy Heart? better.

Bridges is Bad Blake, a talented song writer and once popular performer, who now is relegated to driving his beat up old pickup truck, toting his own gear and playing worn tunes in run down small town bars and bowling alleys. He?s deep into the bottle, but barely has money to feed his habit, and often depends on the kindness of strangers. He meets, Jean Craddock (Gyllenhaal), a single mother, much younger than Blake, when she interviews him for a local paper and a relationship unfolds. Meanwhile, up and coming country star, Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) who at some point Blake mentored, begs him to write songs, but Blake, obviously depressed, lacks song writing inspiration. These two plots intertwine well, but as is expected, Bad Blake?s bad boy ways interfere with both relationships.

Screenwriter Scott Cooper, adapting from a book by Thomas Cobb of the same name, offers a sketchy, slightly skinny storyline, but Bridges carries the character so well and with such seeming ease, he more than makes up for limited details offered by the rote script. This is a wonderful role for an actor like Bridges and a crowning one to be sure. His Bad Blake epitomizes the washed-up, regret-filled old man perfectly. I have long contended that Bridges is underused and underappreciated and in ?Crazy Heart,? Bridges, who turned 60 this year, shows his subtle, innate ability to dig deeply into himself and a character- brilliantly.

Co-star Gyllenhaal, too, offers a multi-dimensional character, although I think her too young. She has the daunting task of being that small town woman, who, against all her better judgment, falls in love with a ticking bomb of a man. I believe, however, that acting with Bridges certainly must have made the job easier. She is a single mom of an adorable son (Jack Nation), who too warms up to Bad. She gives the obviously damaged man ? 30 odd years her senior, something that slightly bothered me ? a chance and the necessary woman to make a guy take stock of his like. Scenes between the pair and her son are moving and real and in May/September relationships believability and chemistry are vital.

First time director Cooper--thanks mainly to his stars--takes us on an interesting and moving ride. Collin Farrell and Robert De Niro have small but key performances, and surprisingly, both Farrell and Bridges do all their own singing, which brings me to the music in the film. My husband, who watched the film with me, felt that the songs were limited and unimpressive, but I suppose I did not really notice. My focus lay on the film?s character and its stars. Being active in the music industry and as a tortured song writer and musician himself, I value his opinion, but this slight annoyance did not take away from his overall enjoyment of the movie or mine.

Even though ?Crazy Heart? rambles a bit as it tries to follow a few different paths, Bridges ultimately ties it all together ? his performance sheer perfection. Whether sharing the scene with the talented Robert Duvall (as a bar owner and longtime friend of Blake?s) or Farrell, who plays Sweet nicely, Bridges inhabits Bad wholly and skillfully giving us yet another reason to admire his talents. He carries the movie fiercely even as it flounders, and makes for pleasing experience in spite of the films lack of surprises. I am placing a B+/A- in my grade book, on the border because of the story and not the cast.

Laurie Coker, True View Reviews