Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart marks the helmer’s feature film directorial debut. Having also penned the screenplay, an adaptation of the Thomas Cobb novel, there are obvious decisions that were made limiting the risk of this story of an alcoholic country music singer. In fact, Crazy Heart could have gone down much darker and less clichéd paths had it dared and at the same time told greater truths about its subject matter. Instead Cooper plays it safe and relies on a powerful lead performance from Jeff Bridges and worthy supporting efforts from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Paul Herman and Robert Duvall to make it all work.
Already described by most as The Wrestler for 2009, this is an apt comparison in terms of framework, but the execution isn’t as closely comparable. Bridges plays Bad Blake, a country singer that once toured and mentored Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell). The two part ways in search of solo careers and Tommy hit it big while Bad was left traveling between Arizona and Texas in his aging truck and playing in bars along the way. He’s 57-years-old with $10 in his pocket and his addiction to alcohol has him on track for an early grave. Things could be better and you’ve seen this story countless times before, but Crazy Heart has something special working for it.
We’ve seen plenty of actors recently take on the role of iconic singers and even sing the tunes themselves. Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls and Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line quickly come to mind. Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose and Jamie Foxx in Ray were lip-syncing. Both can actually sing as proven by Foxx’s musical career and Cotillard’s recent turn in Nine, which makes the decision for both to lip-sync proof how difficult it is to tackle the real thing.
Now imagine an actor is given the duty of creating a completely new character, a whole new persona, and on top of that having to sing songs especially written for that character — songs that define who he is and speak to the heart of the story. Therein lies Jeff Bridges’s performance as Bad Blake and the quality of song writing turned in by T Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton with help from John Goodwin. Without these elements this film simply wouldn’t work and I wouldn’t be writing about it right now.
I’m not a country music fan, but like all music in films, if it’s done right we can be a fan of any genre or musical styling no matter our personal tastes. I don’t rush home to listen to Johnny Cash or Ray Charles on a regular basis, but the music from both Walk the Line and Ray are unforgettable. It just so happens the music of Crazy Heart works on a similar level, elevating the film above its up-and-down script and hitting an emotional note that wouldn’t otherwise be there.
Bridges tackles the aging musical veteran with soul and purpose. He slips into Blake’s skin and not only physically, but emotionally brings the character to realization. A supporting performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal is also impressive once you get over the hackneyed way in which the relationship is cultivated. I treated it as something of a “just go with it” element of the story. I was willing to forgive missteps simply because the performances are so good and because I could see where Cooper intended to go even if he had a hard time getting there.
The film’s most affecting moment comes about midway through with the introduction of Colin Farrell as Tommy Sweet. A fellow critic asked me why Gyllenhaal and Bridges were gaining Oscar attention and not Farrell, to which I replied, “Because Farrell’s performance isn’t what makes it great, it’s his character’s appearance in the film that carries weight. We aren’t reacting to the performance but the emotional weight his character’s presence brings to the scene.” This is the one major success in Cooper’s script, and it wouldn’t have worked if Farrell had mucked up the role, which he doesn’t. But to say anymore would be to ruin the moment for you.
Any problems with the film come primarily as a result of the lack of risk taking I mentioned earlier. The final moments could have been much more lasting, but instead they perpetrate something of a lie in an attempt for a happy ending. I can understand the decision to remain safe since you don’t want to send audiences home in a heap, but having already gone so cliché this was one last moment for redemption, sending audiences home with a gut punch to think about as opposed to a saunter off into the sunset. Going back to that Wrestler comparison, you won’t find any such comparable risk-taking here.
What stands out instead, is masterful song writing, moments of excellence in the script and a performance from Bridges that may land him his first Oscar. These elements are rare in a film and they all make Crazy Heart a film worthy of your dollar.
