Crazy Heart (Theatrical)

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Teens Ass

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Bad Blake doesn´t just write and sing great country songs, he lives them. Bad drives a beat up pick up truck, has four ex wives, an estranged son, and really likes his bourbon. And as for money, well, as Bad says: "I´m 57, I´m broke, I got ten dollars in my pocket." All that´s missing is a faithful ol´ hound dog.

If that sounds like an old familiar song, you´re right. A rhyming version was already made as "Tender Mercies" (1983) and it´s probably not coincidental that Robert Duvall produces and plays a supporting role in this film. "Crazy Heart" is an oft-played tune played one more time, but just like Bad´s ever-dwindling and aging fan base, you never get tired of hearing it one more time.

Every shop-worn cliché in the film is not only forgivable but entirely welcome thanks to the warm, sincere performance of Jeff Bridges, one of the greatest actors of his or any other generation. Here he isn´t trying to put his imprint on an iconic character like The Dude. Instead he just slips into the faded leather boots of a sad, lost soul, a man we all know even though we´ve never met him. However, I don´t think I´m imagining a Dude reference when Bad drives up to his first gig in the film and can´t believe where his manager has booked him: "A fucking bowling alley?"

"I used to be somebody, now I am somebody else." That´s the opening line of one of Bad´s signature songs, and it sums up his life. The problem is he really ain´t somebody else. He clings to the vestiges of his once-booming career and the boozy, itinerant lifestyle that sure seemed like fun twenty years ago but is just a poor fit for a 57 year old man with an 87 year old liver.

Fortunately, an opportunity for reinvention arrives in the form of a reporter named Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), the first journalist to ask Bad for an interview in many years. After just a few questions we can tell that Bad carries old wounds that still bleed. He doesn´t want to talk about his ex-wives or any children he might have, and he particularly doesn´t want to talk about goddamned Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), his former protégé who has now eclipsed his mentor to become a country superstar. He also refuses to reveal his real name. "My tombstone'll have my real name on it. Until then I'm just gonna stay Bad."

They fall in love and Bad finally gets a chance to be a parent to her four year old son Buddy (Jack Nation.) Everything seems to be falling place for Bad but don´t forget that this is a good old-fashioned country song (not like that "fake country" today, as Jean puts it) and potential tragedy lurks around every dusty bend or at the bottom of every bottle.