Crazy Heart

Smittened

You'll never quite treasure something until you lost it, and then you'll inevitably appreciate its value when you had it.

That perhaps summed up my feelings after watching Crazy Heart, where Jeff Bridges played this down and out has been country musician Bad Blake, who had squandered away his success by way of bottle and women in non-lasting relationships. Relegated to small time performing gigs across the country, he finds inspiration through Maggie Gyllenhaal's Jean, only to find himself unable to keep to his promises and still continuing with his vices.

Jeff Bridges provides possibly the best performance of his career to date, and is a one man force as Bad Blake as he performs and sings on stage, nursing a bad attitude and a long time grudge against his protege Tommy, played by Colin Farrell. I thought this inexplicable grudge he has had more bite to the story than his romantic side, since we're geared more to wondering just what his problem is, with Tommy being ever ready to acknowledge his mentor's guiding hand publicly. Both men though had to sing for real in the show, and their performances are convincing, more so when they have to perform together on the same stage.

And the songs are something which you'll remember his film for as well, and this coming from a non-country music fan. I must say I'm fairly impressed by the quality and how feet-tapping the tunes are, so no prizes for guessing which nominee for the Oscar's Best Original Song that I'll be rooting for.

You can read my review of Crazy Heart at movieXclusive.com by clicking on the logo below.