Bushwood Goes to the Movies: Crazy Heart

"I was cleared of all the charges; with money, women, and my health." That is Bad Blake, and after watching Crazy Heart it's hard not to believe that's Jeff Bridges too.

Let's get this out of the way first, I don't like country music. Now I don't think country music is "bad" it is just typically not my thang. However me and this guy did have quite a time once at a Kenny Chesney concert, but that's a story for another time. Two things I do love though are movies and Jeff Bridges and I was more than willing to put aside my distaste for all things country for one of the most enjoyable 112 minutes I've ever experienced.

Crazy Heart tells the tale of Otis "Bad" Blake (Bridges), who was once a star on the country music scene, in the latter half of his career as a singer-songwriter, . Although a propensity for cigarettes, McClure's, and the public's changing opinion of what makes "good country" have left him broken. Actually that's putting it generously. Blake is not a bad man, he just happens to enjoy pretty much everything that is typically described as being bad for you. What follows is a story that is part redemption, part heart ache, part The Wrestler, and a sprinkle of The Big Lewbowski. I'm not going to go more into the plot because it's irritating when articles/reviews about movies are essentially plot summaries. With that being said, the story itself takes a very far backseat to Jeff Bridges performance.

It's impossible to not look at Bridges and see The Dude. For all intents and purposes he has transformed into him. The most amazing thing about Crazy Heart is that it now feels like he has become Bad Blake, or at least some ultimate Voltron -esque combination of the two. Throughout the movie you will find yourself rooting for him, hurting for him, and laughing along with Bad Blake on a journey that you never want to end but are afraid to find out how it will.

Supporting performances come in the form of Colin Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Robert Duvall who bring exactly what's needed to the screen without distracting from Bad. Side note: Colin Farrell is an Irish actor who is playing the part of a country singer that speaks and performs with a southern accent, and he nails it. My head just exploded. Gyllenhaal's turn as a journalist was well deserving of her Best Supporting Actress nomination, and Robert Duvall is just cooler than you or I will ever be. In different forms each of them play in part in Bad Blake's history and future which you can never tell for sure if that is something he treasures or regrets.

The Best Supporting Actor throughout Crazy Heart however is without a doubt the soundtrack. Academy Award, Grammy, and pretty much winner of everything else that you can win something for, producer T-Bone Burnett has put together something that got this made self professed absolutely-not-a-country-fan guy tapping his foot. Ryan Bingham, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, and others join Bridges on a set list that I would happily pay to see. It's not the type of music that is performed when it's country night on American Idol, but rather something that sounds like its rooted in too much whiskey and too many cigarettes. But all the while performed with a sly grin and a complete disregard for the consequences of either.

Crazy Heart is fantastic, Jeff Bridges is amazing, and some things are more enjoyable when they are least expected. Which also sums up the life of Bad Blake. This dude abides.

Judge Smails