In Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges plays an old-school country music star and songwriter.  He’s part of the old guard, one of the guys whose songs about women and booze and his old pickup truck are actually taken from his own life and not ripped off a sort of commercialized assembly line.  Having not bought into the corporate life and having drunk himself into something of a lifelong stupor, his Bad Blake now tours the cheap bars and bowling alleys of the southwest.

His former partner and protégé Tommy Sweet has bought into the commercialized country music industry and has gone on to become a big star.  Although he may now be headlining giant shows whereas Blake is struggling to get from town to town, Tommy still holds his former mentor as an idol and hopes to convince him to write a few new songs for him.

Meanwhile, in Santa Fe, Blake befriends an attractive, single mother journalist who, despite contending that she has learned from her past mistakes, develops feelings towards the aging legend.  It’s through her that the alcoholic Blake may find redemption.

Bridges is fantastic as Bad Blake, a character that seems as it was created specifically so the actor could play him.  His slacker in The Big Lebowski also seemed as if it were created for him to bring it off the page, and it’s a testament to the actor’s versatility he can seem equally at home in roles so completely different.  How different are the roles?  When we first meet Blake he is cursing a bowling alley.  That’s something The Dude certainly never would have done.

As Blake, not only does Bridges feel completely authentic in the role, but he also gets a chance to show off his talent as a musician.  The original music written by T. Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton is fantastic: catchy and soulful.  The lead tune, “The Weary Kind” is sure to be a contender come Oscar time.  The question is, will Bridges perform it at the ceremony?

The film was written and directed by first-timer Scott Cooper and there are some nice little directorial touches, such as a dysfunctional locking chain and the world’s most oddly placed phone booth.  It’s a very assured film for a first-time writer/director.

Still, the movie is mostly worth watching because the character is worth watching.  Bridges really carries the movie and he is given some great supporting help from Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall.  The character of Tommy Sweet is certainly a “movie star role,” like Harry Lime in The Third Man; it’s a character that is talked about much in the first half of the film, but he doesn’t appear until the second.  Therefore, I expected a known actor to show up in the role, but found myself mildly surprised.  Colin Farrell as country music star?  Now, I’ve seen everything.  As surprising as that was, he was very good in his limited screen time.

The film’s final act lost me a little bit.  The device involving the disappearing kid felt somewhat trite and beneath the rest of the movie.  Still, it works to get the movie where it needs to go and the ending is quite delightful.

Crazy Heart is rated R for “language and brief sexuality.”  The sex and language are definitely there, but it’s far from the point of being off-putting.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of Crazy Heart.