Ryan McNeil
Amongst one of the many great songs in CRAZY HEART is one whose chorus says “Funny, I fall and it feels like flyin’ for a little while”.
I keep coming back to this lyric since the two sensations can indeed feel so close. In both cases the weight of the world gets lifted, and anything seems possible. However, in life one obviously shouldn’t confuse the two since the end result of the two couldn’t possibly be more different.
CRAZY HEART is the story of Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges). Blake was once a big country star but at 57 he’s fallen on hard times. How hard? When the film opens we see Blake arriving to play tonight’s gig…in a bowling alley. To say Blake is down on his luck would be putting it mildly. The man is driving from gig to gig alone in his 1980 Suburban. He has no family, is staying in seedy motels, playing for food money, and essentially bleeds whiskey. Bad Blake has become the embodiment of every sad country song you’ve ever heard.
At one tour stop in Santa Fe, he is introduced to Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal). She’s a budding writer and asks Blake for an interview. when Blake agrees, her charm ends up disarming him, and he finds himself opening up far more than usual. As the interviews continue, the two develop a relationship, and soon enough Blake is finding reasons to double back to Santa Fe. Jean is enticed by the sudden life spark she can see in Blake, but wary since he isn’t exactly walking the line…and she’s a single mom who has witnessed such behaviour before.
In amongst all of this, Blake is having trouble dealing with the success of Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrel) – a hotshot star of new country who he mentored to fame. Sweet has all the fame and fortune that Blake doesn’t, but not near the talent. Blake isn’t quite seething with jealousy, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow when your protege is playing amphitheatres and you’re playing bars.
CRAZY HEART is a great performance in a good film. As Bad Blake, Jeff Bridges embraces the grizzle of a life lived hard. From his posture to his voice, he embodies a man who has accepted a particular lot in life…and really doesn’t have the drive to make his own luck. It’s amazing to watch him talk to fans and admirers, since he smiles politely and speaks with warmth…but always seems like he wants to cry from shame. Bridges has taken the roughest elements of Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard and rolls them into one character. It is indeed an award worthy performance.
The movie on the whole however is spotty. As the story went on, I felt by the final act that I was watching a Frankenstein of a few other movies. Indeed, CRAZY HEART has elements of WALK THE LINE, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, and THE WRESTLER. The music scene is full of people like Blake – people who played on songs we all know by heart, who are now playing a nightly gig at the Holiday Inn. crazy heart is unfortunately not their story. In fact Blake’s performing and songwriting get packed up and set aside for a good long while, and the story instead focuses on his relationship with Jean and her son.
This is especially sad, since the music is one of the very best things about this movie. It’s filled with original country songs created by Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett, all of which have the appropriate amount of built-in sadness …even when they are up-tempo. Each one sums up Bad Blake in ways he can’t seem to say himself. If you listen close enough, within the lyrics and chord changes, you’ll hear the story to every single line on Blake’s face. It’s music you will want to download the moment the credits roll.
It saddens me that the waters of this story have been so muddied, since all the elements of a truly great film are there. Much like the character of Jean, this film leads with its heart instead of its head, and that’s where it goes wrong. It wants us to fall for the weary legend like a groupie on the side of the stage…but it’s one thing to fall for the star, and a whole other thing entirely to fall for a tribute band covering the star. CRAZY HEART comes close, and features one of the best performances of the year, but when it’s all over the film doesn’t fly. It falls.
I've read lots of reviews this way. I really just want to watch it for Jeff Bridges, but it just looks so good. It's a shame it doesn't manage to really take advantage of its own premises!
I liked it a little more than you did, but I did find it disappointingly average on the whole. No one will say that Bridges doesn't deserve all the praise in the world, but what really brings the movie together are the songs. I'm generally not a fan of country music, but Bad's songs are so integral to his story and they're played so effectively that the movie would completely fall apart without them. Bridges and the songs should be recognized. The rest I could pretty well take or leave.
You put it perfectly when you said Bridges was on another level compared to the film. I think the problems with the film as a whole was mostly due to the fact that Scott Cooper is a first time writer/director. He didn't seem to manage his tone very well. In one scene, Bad will be throwing up relentlessly after several whiskeys, and in the next, he's making biscuits for Jean's kid. It's all well-intentioned, but other than Bridges' performance and Bingham's original song, a lot of this film falls flat.
@ Univarn… If you're only trying to see it for Bridges, you won't be disappointed.
@ Joel… I'll be talking about it in my podcast next Monday. I did like it, specifically for the acting and music that you mention. It just isn't the sort of film I'd say people need to make a beeline to see. Quite intrigued by the fact that non-country fans are drawn to the music…you're the second such person I've heard say that.
@ Danny… Tone didn't really bug me, it was more the fact that what starts out being the story of a forgotten legend turns into a watered-down, shoulda-known-better romance. It manages to take greatness and whittle it down to only goodness.
Only two-and-a-half stars? I'm kind of disheartened by that. I'm still waiting to see this because of Bridges and Gyllenhaal.
@ Meredith… Do see it. If you don't see it by Monday, then tune in to episode six of the podcast where Movie Moxie and I discuss it. We clarify our rating through the course of the conversation.