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Life own't no identify for the weary kind. Just ask Bad Blake. Hither is a homo that acts from the soul every pace of the fashion, yet, it's i that has been ravaged and decimated from a life of alcoholism and concatenation-smoking. Able to compose a song that will resonate for decades to come up just by picking up his guitar, Blake is the sort of enigma that means well, only can never clean up enough to achieve. A legend to the people who know 'real state'; teacher and mentor to the younger crowd's new heartthrob superstar in Colin Farrell'due south Tommy Sweetness; and a has-been, spiral-up that's four times divorced and estranged from the one son he has for over 25 years, this homo is in desperate need of a wake-upwards call. The question that looms over Crazy Heart, equally a upshot, is whether or smashing deserves to exist redeemed. Nosotros want to root for the underdog, but when that long shot is a drunkard on the fast track to oblivion, you have to ask if the world would be improve off. And that's where Jeff Bridges comes in with ane of the best turns of the year. His power to be sympathetic while completely selfish cannot exist disregarded, making us shake our caput when he does wrong, just ever concur out hope that things volition plow effectually.

Based on a novel by Thomas Cobb, author/director Scott Cooper chose a winner for his debut behind the camera. With all the hoopla over Bridges this honour flavour, information technology was easy to forget nearly the picture itself, which is a mistake. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting too much, peculiarly with the comparisons to The Wrestler. Now I can see the parallels, but the two are totally different films—well, maybe not totally. What sets them apart is how Bad Blake tin succeed if merely he took the time to do it. Resentful of his protégé for finding fame and fortune, he has taken himself out of the limelight, refusing to believe he tin can write a new song, but unable to exercise anything except play. Fifty-fifty after headlining bowling alleys and dive confined, the prospect of opening for Sugariness at a 12,000-chapters venue completely disgusts him; he is too prideful to take a backseat and realize when a helping manus is beingness extended. Alone for so long, Blake has institute his only solace in the bottle—never missing a show, simply also non ane to consistently finish them either. The older women he beds each night do nothing to fulfill his need for companionship, discovering that his buddy Wayne, (a overnice office from Robert Duvall, a guy seeing a lot of supporting work lately and excelling at it), back dwelling house is all he has.

It wouldn't be much of a story if all we see is some stubborn one-time musician hell-bent on destroying the little life he has left. So, of course, we find life itself intervening. Later on playing with a bunch of kids every bit a backing band, Blake finds himself in Santa Atomic number 26 with a piano player that actually has some skill. The musicianship lonely allows the old-timer to ask Bad for an interview with his niece. Enter Maggie Gyllenhaal and a take chances at redemption. She is someone that he can help and, even more, can also assistance him. Looking into the barrel of the gun that his hard and fast lifestyle has set in forepart of him, Blake sees a manner to be a meliorate person—to be relevant once more for once, away from the stage. A single mom of a four twelvemonth old, Gyllenhaal'due south Jean is exactly what he left a quarter century ago. This fourth dimension he wants and then much to stick around and be the father he never was, the lover he neglected to be while on the road, and let his large middle the run a risk to give again. The affair of booze ever looms large, withal, and information technology only becomes a matter of time earlier something derails the mirage of the high-life he has imagined will last forever. I cringed each time Blake was left alone with young Buddy, knowing in my gut that something was spring to happen somewhen.

And this is where Crazy Center truly excels. It is utterly conceivable at every turn, from the actors to the story. While the simple fact of having a musical legend boozer at the heart of it all makes it clichéd, the plot itself rises above. His relationship with a girl half his age never feels false, as both know what they are getting into. Gyllenhaal is smashing, keeping her performance nuanced and controlled, continuing her underrated career in character-driven indies and assuasive Bridges to bear witness the compassion he has kept bottled inside for so long. She is his rock, no matter how curt a time they've known each other, simply a life of abuse without rehab isn't something to exist undone hands. Sometimes a person can be drunk 24/7 and lookout man equally they go by unscathed, but that once you stop at a bar and sip half a drink tin have devastating effect. Alcoholism lulls y'all into the imitation promise of surviving, that is until the bottom finally falls far enough to no longer see the light at the superlative. Bridges has never been amend, portraying that mixture of self-loathing and stubbornness, building the walls to trap him into the destructive world he has. Yous may think you know how it all ends, except this isn't Hollywood. Wait an outcome that feels true, leaving room for the happy ending that may or may not come depending on your definition of the term.

Just Bridges and the strong tale at hand would exist nothing without the amazing work by T-Os Burnett and Ryan Bingham. To exist able to believe that this character is a musician of worth, you need to have the music to back it upwardly. The soundtrack put together is top-notch 'real' state that wears its emotions on its sleeves. Jeff Bridges pulls off each and every performance—every bit does Farrell—showing the feeling and hurting in his centre. Jean asks Bad where the music comes from and his respond is simply, "from life, unfortunately". Each chord and lyric tells the story of this homo's past, all the hardships that have led him to the point where we enter. It is only in the discovery of dearest, the wonderment of being needed and wanted, that his artistic juices begin to period once again, crafting the centerpiece runway, and Golden Globe winning tune, "The Weary Kind". This song needs to exist a masterpiece in order to tie the entire film together and go far work. Annihilation less and we every bit an audition feel cheated and taken advantage of. To build a story around the power of ane slice of music composed in bed on a broken ankle is a catchy effort. Thankfully Bingham and Burnett were up to the task, forth with everyone else involved pulling their own weight in return.

Crazy Heart viii/10

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photography:
[1] L-R: Jeff Bridges and Robert Duvall Photo Credit: Lorey Sebastian. © Trick Searchlight.
[2] 50-R: Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal Photo Credit: Lorey Sebastian. © Fox Searchlight.