Crazy Heart

This review as you can see is being written after the Oscars but I did see the film before the Oscars. Not that it should influence my opinion.

There are some films where a performance by the lead actor is so built up that it can sometimes overshadow the story. I think Bad Blake is an interesting character but I did not like this part of his life. I think the main problem is his chemistry with Jean. I could not see what Jean sees in Bad that makes her fall in love with him. We do not get much of a back story to her character and get any idea as to why she would want to be with this broken man. Bad does not look terribly handsome and the situations she sees him in are not all that flattering. Maybe if we knew a bit more about her and her back story we may understand her attraction. For one thing she complains about not being able to find the right man to give her son a masculine influence in his life that all the men she has met have left. Yet here she has met a guy who travels the country and is an alcoholic. What does she see that makes him so wonderful for her and her son. That's the rant out of the way. The rest of the plot is fairly ordinary and a bit cliched. You know what is going to happen and sometimes this may not matter but this film does not make the cliches terribly appealing. I also got the feeling that you needed to be a country music fan to enjoy it more. While I don't hate country music, it is not one of my favourite genres so that may have influenced my reaction.

The only great thing about this film is Jeff Bridges. He is excellent in just about every film he is in. Which makes me think that his Oscar win is more for a lifetime achievement rather than this performance. That's not to say he is not good but I feel a couple of the other performances he was up against were better. Maybe my dislike for the rest of the film has meant I was not glowing in my reaction to him. I was also displeased with Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance. I love Maggie normally but I did not think she was all that special here. Definitely not awards worthy. I thought she was much better in 'The Dark Knight' and would have preferred she got a nomination for that. I did however like Colin Farrell. His small appearance in the film is quite good and proves to be quite a good musical performer.

A pretty mediocre film but with another excellent performance by Jeff Bridges. Country music fans may enjoy it more.