Susan Granger’s review of “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Jeff Bridges’ performance elevates this generic, even clichéd morality-tale concept to a level that makes him a viable, but not surprising Best Actor Oscar contender. He’s long overdue for ownership of that coveted statuette after four previous nominations (“The Last Picture Show,” “Thunderbolt & Lightfoot,” “Starman,” “The Contender”).
Bad Blake (Bridges) is an aging, alcoholic country singer/guitarist/songwriter, barely staggering from one motel to another, performing one-night stands, often in smoky dive bars and bowling alleys, driving his beat-up Suburban through the Southwest, warbling, “I used to be somebody, but now I’m somebody else.”
At a gig in Santa Fe, he meets a single mother, Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), an aspiring journalist who wants to get to know the-man-behind-the-legend. Through her probing questioning, it’s revealed that he’s blown through four marriages and has a grown son from whom he’s been alienated for years. As their relationship ripens, Bad also develops an affection for Jean’s four year-old son, Buddy (Jack Nation).
There’s nothing new and different in debut writer/director Scott Cooper’s character study of a self-destructive musician, based on novel by Thomas Cobb. Remember Robert Duvall in “Tender Mercies” and Rip Torn in “Payday”? Yet with Cooper’s subtle script and naturalistic direction, Jeff Bridges captures Bad’s weary 57 year-old soul and elevates what could have been mundane into masterful and memorable, including his ambivalent relationship with Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), his protégé who’s now become a superstar. And Robert Duvall, listed as one of the producers, makes a brief appearance as a supportive friend.
Credit an astute executive at Fox Searchlight for picking up this low-budget, independent film, which was made for about $7 million by Country Music television for Viacom, and headed for a direct-to-DVD release. While it won’t sweep the awards season like last year’s pick-up, “Slumdog Millionaire,” it could catapult Jeff Bridges to Oscar gold. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Crazy Heart” is a compassionate 7 – with a terrific Texas country music soundtrack by T. Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham and the late Stephen Burton.
