Crazy Heart

[4.0
stars] [IMDb Link]

[Amazon Link]
(paid link)

Continuing our Oscar catchup: this one was nominated for three, and won two: Jeff Bridges for Best Actor, and Best Song. Maggie Gyllenhaal was the nominee for Best Supporting Actress.

All well-deserved, but it spoiled my Dream Oscar Scenario: Jeff Bridges winning his first acting Oscar for playing Marshal Rooster Cogburn in the upcoming Coen-Brothers-directed version of True Grit; the original movie and role being where John Wayne nabbed his long-overdue Oscar 40 years ago.

That would have been cool. But what about this movie?

Bridges plays "Bad Blake", a country music has-been. His career is spinning down the toilet, and so is his life, due to chronic alcoholism and general inability to form enduring personal relationships. He meanders from gig to gig, living on bad food, whiskey, cigarettes, and the occasional one-night stand with women entranced by his past fame.

But then the aforementioned Ms. Gyllenhaal shows up, looking to do an interview for the local paper. She's different enough from the usual wham-bam to get Bad to pay attention, and (inexplicably, but this is a movie) she's interested enough as well. So the question is: can they overcome Bad's obvious character flaws to get him to some sort of happy ending? No spoilers here.

The plot itself is kind of familiar, but everything else in the movie is good enough to make it worth a spot on one's Netflix queue. In addition to Jeff and Maggie, Colin Farrell—of all people—shows up as a thoroughly believable country star. And it's realistic enough so that I swear I caught a whiff of cigarettes-whiskey-puke stench at a couple points; I'm sure that would have come through even more pungently if I had Blu-ray.


Last Modified 2024-01-30 3:48 PM EDT