Box Watcher

Country music has changed over the years.  There was a time when many country singers had that “Outlaw” persona, a hard drinking nomad type of singer.  It wasn’t until later that country became aggressively marketed.  It’s actually become tough to tell the difference between country and pop.

Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) and Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) each represent the two extremes.  Bad is traveling the country playing in front of crowds of only dozens in bowling alleys.  Tommy plays before thousands every night, that is when he’s not off acting in movies.  Bad was Tommy’s mentor until the two had a falling out.  One wonders how much it had to do with whatever the disagreement was and how much was Bad just not being a part of a the new country scene.

Being a dinosaur is the least of Bads problems.  He smokes too much, drinks too much, and has married too much.  A doctor warns him if he doesn’t change soon, he will die.  At the same team he receives the warning he starts dating Jean (Maggie Gyllenhall).  They seem like a good fit together.  He immediately falls for her and her four-year old son, Buddy.  The three become a de-facto family.  Bad enjoys it so much he doesn’t drink if front of the boy and is soon re-evaluating his entire life.

If you think you know how the story ends you’re probably right.  This is very familiar territory but, as Roger Ebert once said “A movie isn’t really what it’s about, but how it’s about it”.  The strategy here is to make it a character study.  Jeff Bridges has gotten an awful lot of attention over this role. The danger in playing an alcoholic is the risk of an over-exaggerated performance, Bridges understands and stays suitably restrained.  So far he’s won the Golden Globe and he’s the front-runner for the Oscar.  It’s well deserved, even with the standard plot Bridges’ acting is extremely entertaining and authentic. .  Who knew “The Dude” was a crooner?

It’s too bad that not as much thought or effort was put into the other characters.  Maggie Gyllenhall simply  goes through the paces.  She’s not bad but not exactly memorable either, but some of the blame lies in the script itself.  Based on her knowledge of Blake’s drinking Jean makes some questionable choices.  Later in the film she even calls herself on it.  But that doesn’t justify the decision in the first place.

The film moves along at a nice pace.  The plot advances in each scene, but time is still taken to enjoy the details: the long nights in the small towns, the concerts, the mock family life, etc.  But at the same time screenwriters didn’t seem to know how end it.  Some pretty big events the final act seem rushed, although the last scene is very well written.

Crazy Heart is a good, but not great movie.  Sure there are few surprises, but it’s not that kind of movie.  It’s the kind of film you just get lost in and enjoy its company for two hours.  Bridges performance goes a long way into keeping the movie enjoyable but the rest of the film is perfectly passable.

**** out of *****