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Rating: 4.25 out of 5
I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a country music fan. It is just not for me, and it is very, very, very rare that I like a country song. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a select few. I liked Garth Brooks’ the Thunder Rolls when I was a young lad. That was a banger of a song, and I still love it today. Another country song is the Dixie Chicks’ Goodbye Earl. My mom used to like that song because it was crazy and funny. Nowadays, we are starting to see a blend of country in other music genres. This makes me way more interested. When Nelly and Tim McGraw made Over and Over, that was a different vibe but also introduced many in another culture to get a taste of that country life. The BANGER of a song that should’ve been respected by the Country music community is Lil Nas X Old Town Road. The song has been widely labeled as “country rap.” The song is only one minute and fifty-three seconds long, but it was so well done. Yet, Billboard and Country couldn’t accept it. People were mad that someone came along and changed the game. “Old Town Road’s overall run at number one is the longest in chart history, surpassing the previous record of sixteen weeks.
The reason I brought up country music is because I just watched Crazy Heart. The film centers on fifty-seven-year-old Otis “Bad” Blake. Blake was a legend in the country & western game as a singer, but now times have changed, and he travels around playing in places that are not where he once played. He currently plays in venues such as bowling alleys and occasional bars. Blake is an alcoholic man who likes to sleep around, has been married around five times, has about five dollars to his name, and hasn’t seen his son in over twenty-plus years. Pretty much Blake is on a self-destructive path to six feet under but hey, gotta live fast and hard while you can. During a performance in Santa Fe, Blake meets newspaper journalist Jean Craddock (Gyllenhaal). Jean is a single mother to her four-year-old son Buddy and is trying to just make it. After a night where Bud hits on Jean, and despite their age differences, they hit it off and begin a relationship. Blake becomes close with Buddy, and he seems to be on the path of being happy and changing his ways. As time goes on, Blake reconnects with his former protegee, Tommy Sweet (Farrell), who is not way more famous than him. Tommy wants Blake to write some songs for him, but Blake wants to tour. As life seems to be going up, Blake’s lifestyle with the bottle may soon ruin everything he wants.
I want to start off that this film is built on and around the mesmerizing performance from Jeff Bridges. Without his performance, this would just be another boring movie to me. Bridges seemed to elevate his game with this performance as he truly took on the role of Otis “Bad” Blake. His body language and speaking style made you want to watch this character. In the beginning, he stumbles around, looks like a drunk, and doesn’t seem to care about anything or anyone but the money that he has to earn. It wasn’t until he meets Jean that he tries to clean up, but the demons of the bottle are still strong. Hell, dude was in a car accident and broke his ankle and still couldn’t get clean after the doctor said to clean up. It wasn’t until the end that Blake got truly clean. I want to say that when you leave the bottle alone, your skin and hair start looking good. Bridges managed to show all the emotions of Blake to significant effect and range.
I want to give a shout-out to Maggie Gyllenhaal for her role as Jean. I’ve seen some of her movies, yet I was utterly impressed with her in this film. As Jean, she was that loving mother who was just trying to make it. She loved her boy Buddy and was completely in love with Blake. When Blake messed up royally, she wasn’t having it. Gyllenhaal altogether showed her range as an actress with the way she played this part.
Now on to the story of this film. Even the movie was very well made, the story was meh to me. I felt like I have seen it before over and over again. The story of a down on their luck person who meets someone and, after a series of romances, tries to change their ways only to fail and realize that what they had only to ultimately lose it. The same story from A Star is Born or any other film like this. The story just didn’t impress me with the way people talked about it. Once again, it wasn’t awful; it was just something I had seen before.
I would say that the atmosphere of this film changed with the mode of Blake. When he was by himself or someplace he really didn’t want to be, the scene was dark and gloomy. Case in point, playing in the bars, or when he sat alone in his hotel room with his bottle of alcohol. Another way it showed was when Blake sat with Tommy. His mood was blah, and it just seemed like a dark cloud around Blake as he couldn’t believe his protegee was more successful now than him. Yet, the movie showed he was happy when he was around Jean and Buddy. It seemed to brighten up and was clearer. In the end, I liked how the film ended with a clear scenery as Jean and Blake sat on a bench table. It was a calming effect as the two spoke about life and caught up.
Overall, Crazy Heart is one of those films that will remind you of other films if you watched many movies. Credit and praise need to be given to Jeff Bridges as he was the show and power that made this movie. He was great and deserved his Academy Award. Gyllenhaal also deserves much praise for her turn as Jean. Crazy Heart is a nice title for this film and should be viewed while listening to some good ole country music.
