When life gets so bad that the only thing you can do to make yourself feel better is violently puke into your toilet, the way to turn everything around is to write a nice country song about it; so says Crazy Heart. Despite being an obvious Oscar-grab on Jeff Bridges's part, this flick about a down-and-out country singer is another that manages to be pretty good despite having not having the most original story ever; thanks to good acting and a few catchy tunes.
It's a story that could make for a darn good country song itself:
I lost my wife
and flipped my truck
Broke up my ankle
I don't give a fuck
Cause I got this cra-aa-zy heart
Oh darlin', it burns when we're apart
Oh yeah, this cra-aa-zy heart
It beats and bumps and turns deep in the dark
I drink all day
and all night too
I lost my son
and yours! Boo-hoo!
But I still got this cra-aa-zy heart
I wish I had the bite to match your bark
Instead I got this cra-aa-zy heart
Oh darn this cra-aa-zy heart
(harmonica solo that transitions into a slide guitar solo with a big finish)
So you get standard drama/music bio-pic stuff: drugs, alcohol, romances that start hot and burn out quickly, neglect due to chemical abuse, etc, etc, etc. But you know what? It doesn't really matter. Jeff Bridges can make anything watchable and the supporting cast of Robert Duvall, Colin Farrel and Maggie Gyllenhaal is great. I was never sold on the relationship between Bridges and Gyllenhaal (It was totally gross), but that was only a mild creepiness that I managed to overlook just like I do with the make up in a Star Trek movie.
Cost/Benefit analysis: Saw it for free with my family. I wouldn't pay full price for it though. Worth a rental or a ticket in the cheap theaters. I'm going to wait for Tron Legacy and True Grit later this year to pay up for the Dude.
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