By: debbie lynn elias
From the opening frame of CRAZY HEART, I knew I was seeing an award-worthy film. Pure, raw emotion. Heartwarming. Heart-wrenching. Joyous. Inspiring. Hopeful. Introspective. All hallmarks of the best of the best. From the minute Jeff Bridges appeared on screen, I knew I was seeing an award winning performance. And with the recent flood of accolades for Bridges, including a Golden Globe nomination, seems that many of my colleagues also felt the same way. Can an Oscar nomination and the possible grabbing of that elusive little gold guy be too far behind? I think not. This is the performance of Jeff Bridges’ career.
Bad Blake is a country legend. He was country when country wasn’t cool. But now at 57, Bad is down on his luck; a broken down, drunken, has been, forced to play bowling alleys and dive bars singing for his supper. Sadly, his biggest problem is that his supper continually flows from a whiskey bottle. Still talented and still hungering for the limelight, success has passed him over due to his reckless ways, electing instead to shine its golden light on Bad’s protégé, Tommy Sweet. Rocketing to the top of the “new” country charts, Tommy’s success has driven the two apart and while a collaborative effort between them could prove beneficial to both and possibly salvage Bad’s career, pride, embarrassment and Tommy’s handlers stand in the way.
But maybe Bad’s luck is about to turn when he meets up Jean Craddock, a local Santa Fe journalist set to do an in-depth feature on Bad. Of course, Bad’s idea of in-depth and Jean’s are at opposite ends of the spectrum – at least initially, thanks to Jean’s poor track record with men and her single-minded desire to raise and protect her young 4 year old son, Buddy. As to be expected though, it doesn’t take Bad long to wield his wiles on the unsuspecting Jean, however, the result is something neither Bad nor Jean ever anticipated. Unfortunately, a leopard doesn’t change his spots and near-tragedy occurs when Buddy is left in Bad’s care.
Taking two steps back after one step forward, and with life throwing him even more heartache and disappointment, will Bad ever crawl out of the muck and mire he has created for himself? Hmmm…sounds like a country song to me!
I bow to Jeff Bridges in this role. As Bad Blake, his emotion is raw. The drunkenness is honest. The candor refreshing. This is the finest performance of his career. Amazingly though, he almost didn’t get this part. “When I first got the script there wasn’t any music attached to it so I kind of took a passer on it. Then when I found out from my good buddy T Bone that he was gonna do it, that filled in that missing piece. So when he got involved I knew the music was going to be top notch and it got me to the party real quick.” And what about the music and Bridges’ singing? Anyone that knows anything about Jeff Bridges knows of his musical talent as a musician and composer, but sing? That was new even to me and all I can say is HELLLOOOOO!!!!! He blew me out of the water. Absolutely phenomenal vocal and musical performances (as he does his own guitar playing as well). But let’s amp things up a bit and take Bridges from being a single to doing a duet, a duet with none other than Colin Farrell who makes a surprise appearance as Tommy Sweet. Ladies, you will be swooning in the aisles with these boys on stage together. Admittedly, I was never a big Colin Farrell fan. But since “In Bruges” and then with the upcoming “Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” and now CRAZY HEART, he has won me over completely. And his voice! He can sing! And he sings good! And he sings and speaks with a Southern drawl to boot. Put Bridges and Farrell together and they are unstoppable. You want an encore and more. Their chemistry is emotional, electrifying, connective and incredible to watch. PRICELESS!!!! And this extends beyond their singing.
As for Farrell’s performance as Tommy Sweet, he is sublime. The way that Farrell plays Sweet, so humble and even embarrassed by his success at the expense of his friend and mentor (which actually looks like a father-son interaction of respect, admiration and pride) is poignant and beautiful to watch – particularly in their duet scene. Not to spoil anything, let me just say this scene provides a nice little twist to the story that will melt your heart. According to Bridges, who also serves as Executive Producer, they only had 24 days to do this film which means “you’re really looking for comrades that can get the fire going as quickly as possible.” With Colin Farrell working “maybe 4 or 5 days” it was crucial that there be chemistry between the two. “We hit it off right off the bat and we kind of approached the work in a similar way and got along great. I enjoyed working with him. And then singing together is a great way to strike up a relationship with your fellow actors, that harmonize and stuff. So that all fell into place really well.”
Maggie Gyllenhaal rounds out our triumvirate as love struck single mother Jean, and while she definitely plays second fiddle to the boys, she is emotionally effective and affective. According to Gyllenhaal, “Everything in my life has changed absolutely and completely since becoming a mother”, something which made a definite impact on her character. “My daughter was almost 2 when I made the movie and I got to this place of [where I thought], ‘I’m also me. I’m also an actress. I have this really strong hunger to express something that I hadn’t had for awhile when she was a tiny baby.’” And CRAZY HEART got almost all of [that hunger]. When I look at the movie I see Jean as really going through a similar thing. I don’t know if that’s part of the movie inherently or if I put it there. But for Jean, she’s got this 4 year old who, at least for a big chunk of time she’s been raising alone, she’s been trying to do good, trying to be good, trying to manage, and I think she just finally says, ‘I need something for me. I need something that feels good to me. And I don’t care if it’s bad for me. It’s better if it’s bad for me.”’ I think she just takes it. And I don’t think it could have been anybody [who she gets involved with]. I think she really falls in love with [Bad Blake]. I think it’s balancing what you need in order to be alive and what you have to sacrifice for your kid.”
Interestingly, although Jean may be Bad’s love interest, there is more chemistry and bonding between Farrell and Bridges then between Gyllenhaal and Bridges.
Not to be missed in his film debut is the adorable Jack Nation who steals your heart as Jean’s son, Buddy. More than notable is a nice cameo turn by Beth Grant as Bad Blake’s horny groupie fan. Good for her that we get to see a “mature” woman waking up in a motel room with a broken down once famous singer proving there’s more to life than young groupies.
And what can one ever say about Robert Duvall. Even in a small role (or big one as producer) he weaves his magic and plays a vital part in the story as Wayne, the moral compass, mentor, friend and father figure to Bridges’ Bad. Described by T Bone Burnett as “the patron saint of the film” and by writer/director Scott Cooper as “the godfather of this film”, Duvall, humble as ever, downplays his involvement, yet it is because of him the film obtained funding and casting. It was, in fact, Duvall, who “reached out to Jeff [Bridges], I knew Jeff, sent him a letter, ‘would you look at this.’ It took a year to get [T Bone Burnett]. It took a while to get all this together. When they got the money, then I helped wherever I could. I played a part in it and I also helped out with the casting.”
Written and directed by Scott Cooper based on Thomas Cobb’s novel of the same name, I applaud Cooper for his adaptation which adheres so closely to the novel. The story is one that will resonate with almost anyone. Inspiring and hopeful, characters are muti-dimensional and very textured. However, I do wish the film would have gone a but further in exploring Bad’s relationship with his own son, particularly in light of his screw up with Buddy. Parenting problems are clearly a big part of Bad’s psyche and demons that cried for more screen time. But in the grand scheme of excellence of this film, those are just picky little points.
Barry Markowitz’ cinematography showcasing the southwest is simply beautiful. Steadi-cam lensing of Bridges’ guitar playing and performances is excellent. Production design is thoughtful with detail as to hotel rooms, Jean’s house and Bad’s house. Notable for me are the wardrobe details, notably the pants that Bad wears. They are Levi’s but not denim and it’s a fabric and style pant (just look at the hem and back pockets) embraced by the old time western Hollywood stuntmen who wore and for some, do still wear. Not a heavy denim, but a fabric that has more mobility and is lighter weight, able to be worn to premieres and the like, giving a cowboy feel without being denim. (Nudie’s on Lankershim used to be THE place to buy great western wear.) A great touch of “country western” authenticity.
As for the soundtrack – fantastic. Eclectic and wonderful. Songs by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett, including the lauded and nominated “The Weary Kind” by Bingham and Burnett are amazing. Each song serves as dialogue to the film, telling part of the story, as country songs in and of themselves do. Each is masterful and meaningful. Burnett’s production of the music results in one of the best soundtrack mixes for a film that I have heard in a long time. Everything fits. Nothing feels out of place.
Do yourself a favor. Just go crazy this weekend. Go crazy for CRAZY HEART.
Bad Blake – Jeff Bridges
Jean Craddock – Maggie Gyllenhaal
Wayne – Robert Duvall
Tommy Sweet – Colin Farrell
Written and directed by Scott Cooper based on the novel by Thomas Cobb.
