Panel from Rin Tin Tin comic book #15, September 1956
A small but affecting movie deserves a small, affecting review. I'll stick with "small", though - the other is beyond my grasp. As a longtime Jeff Bridges fan (my favorite movies include The Big Lebowski, Fearless, The Fisher King, and TRON), I'd feel bad not seeing the movie that will bring him his "this guy is overdo" Best Actor Oscar. And Crazy Heart didn't disappoint. It's got a nice little story bolstered by great performances from Bridges, Gyllenhaal, and a small supporting cast, and the music is top notch.
I think I would have been disappointed by the lack of chemistry between the leads except that I kind of expected it, and it actually worked for me in the context of the story. It would be weird is there was an immediate crackling sexual energy between a 57-year-old alcoholic country singer and the young reporter doing a story on him. The characters, Bad Blake and Jean Craddock, have their own reasons for falling in love, and in a performance-focused film like this, I'm glad that the characters showed a lot about their respective lives without being obvious about it.
The music is the other aspect of Crazy Heart worth mentioning - I really liked it, and it had the pre-nu-country sound that you'd expect from a country singer that peaked in the '70s. Blake uses local musicians on his little tour of the Southwest, so you get to see him backed by young garage rockers, a honkytonk band with a piano and accordion, and the professional musicians that back him when he opens for his super-famous former protégé. The music has a lot of personality without overwhelming Crazy Heart's other little charms, making for a nice music-oriented movie about a very realistic aging musician and the life he's made for himself.
"Crazy Horses" by the Osmonds
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