Due to my actually having work to do during the day and my complete laziness at night, I missed an opportunity to make myself seem really cool. I'm going to brag a little bit here and let all of you know that I saw Crazy Heart before it was even released in theaters. It's what happens when you are a famous movie blogger...or you just know someone who has an uncle who is a very important person...whichever. My plan was to write this review before the movie actually came out like real movie critics do, but I clearly missed the boat on that one. Nonetheless, on to the movie.
It wouldn't surprise me if many of you didn't know what Crazy Heart was about as it is not a hugely marketed movie, but it is definitely a good one. If you've been watching the awards shows at all you may have noticed that Jeff Bridges has been winning Best Actor at like all of them. It's for his performance in Crazy Heart.
Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a broken-down, hard-living, Waylon Jennings/Kris Kristopherson-esque country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and way too many drinks way too many times. He's still a brilliant song writer, but he's just too broken down, and too broke, and too drunk. However, when Bad meets Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician, he can’t help but reach for salvation and a new, better life.
I know that description sounds a bit cliche, and maybe it is, but let's be honest with ourselves here, sometimes cliche is awesome. I mean we've seen the story many times before. Down on his luck guy meets girl who sees the real him, he wants to change, wants to be better, and in the end he is. But we haven't seen this story told with Jeff Bridges playing that down on his luck guy, and with Maggie Gyllenhaal playing that girl, or with Robert Duvall playing a friend.
This story or this movie would not have been nearly as good if anyone else were playing Bad Blake but Jeff Bridges. I mean, I'll go ahead and tell you, I have a total man crush on him and think that everything he does is awesome, but this truly is some of the best acting I've seen. After I saw that movie, I said "If Jeff Bridges doesn't win an Oscar for that role, I'm going to freak out." Well, so far he's on the right track.
While I think this movie is amazing, I realize that this isn't a movie for everyone. I can enjoy an otherwise dull movie because of the acting, many people can't. Not to say this is a dull movie, but there isn't a lot of action. Hardly any humor. It's got some dark parts too. But it is an great movie. If you like music, especially country music, you'll love this movie. There are some really awesome songs in it. The cast is made up of Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, and Colin Farrell. With the exception of Colin Farrell being in Daredevil, these actors don't really make many bad movies. I personally think everyone should see this movie just to watch Jeff Bridges work his magic, but just know, it is kind of slow. There's no great climax or action. It's just a story about people, their struggles, and the little things that get us through them. It really is a great movie.
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