(3/5)
“Crazy Heart” belongs to a long tradition of American movies focused on the loser. The film shows, in a romantic fashion, how such men lose themselves in society and deal with this reality of loss. It is the long shadow of the American Dream; the other side of the coin on the very same coin. “Crazy Heart”, as “The Wrestler” did before it, deals with the most glamorous kind of cinematic losers: the falling star. Bad Black (Jeff Bridges) was a popular Country music singer and writer. Now, he is an alcoholic, a heavy smoker, overweight and broke. He is forced to perform in bowling clubs and small pubs to raise a buck.
We meet him at the lowest point of his career. He is unable to finish a gig because he is too drunk. It is a classic moment seen in may films; “Crazy Heart”, therefore, is not an original narrative. The film is structured around a well known plot line. First, we have the fall of the hero, then their meeting with a young person, who provides a new hope. In Black’s case, this person is Jean: a single-mother with a baby. At this point, the hero, Bad Black realises that he has been trying to hide behind his past successes. He may be good as a singer, but he is a disastrous human being. He has a son that he has never seen, he has been married four times and he is unable to hold a relationship. He tries to start again with Jane, but he cannot give up drinking. Only when he loses her he is able to force himself to stop and to come back as a song-writer, but not much more as a man.
A person that has to lose her/himself completely to gain new life is a well known dramatic tool, one that “Crazy Heart” lazily exercises through Jeff Bridges’ performance. The result is a film with not many ideas, a stereotyped main character and underdeveloped minor characters. In the end, the film proves to be more about a good actor making a fool of himself by parading his gallery of lowness (for e.g., vomiting, as well as his naked belly and underpants) to gain an Oscar. Bridges’ performance is irritating to watch and does not compare to his actual best performance in “The Big Lebowski”. A more interesting performance was that of Colin Farrell, who is a much less notable actor than Bridges, but succeeds in playing the straight Tommy Sweet: the new face of commercial country.
The film is co-produced by Bridges and Robert Duvall, who has a minor role in the film. Great country music by T-Bone Burnett is also published in a CD with songs performed by Jeff Bridges. The film gave Jeff Bridges a career deserved Oscar after four unsuccessful nominations. Another Oscar went to T-Bone Burnett for the best original song.
CRAZY HEART (USA, 2009, 110)
Dir. wr. Scott Cooper; cast: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Sarah Jane Morris, Colin Farrell, Genre: Drama, Music; prod: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Popularity: 1% [?]
