Genres: Drama, Musical
Director: Scott Cooper
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 112 min
Reviewer Ranking 9/10
Movie Review by: Emily Paulson
It’s pretty popular these days to hate on country music, but Crazy Heart is more than just the tale of a country singer. Like all good stories about art – in this case country music; and think Hank Williams and Kris Kristofferson style country – it questions the boundary between art and life. I began to think about this boundary myself after the first concert scene when I had to stop myself from clapping. I’d forgotten that it wasn’t a real concert but rather an “art” concert that I was watching in a movie theater, where other people might not appreciate my clapping.
Jeff Bridges (The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Big Lebowski) stars as Bad Blake, an aging, broke country singer. To make a living, he’s singing his old hit songs from decades past in bowling alleys and bars. Although he resents these small-time venues and gets drunk alone in various darkened motel rooms before all the shows, he always keeps his promises and leaves his fans satisfied.
This remains the status quo until Bad grants an interview to the journalist niece of a backing musician. Bad and the journalist, Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Dark Knight), fall in love. Jean reluctantly lets Bad into the life of herself and her young son, Buddy (first-timer Jack Nation).
As this relationship progresses, Bad has a chance to make some real money by opening for his protégée who made it big, Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell, Pride and Glory). Although the relationship between the two has become tense over the years, they’re still fond of each other, and Bad needs to make some money (whiskey is only free some of the time, apparently).
Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, times get tough for the alcoholic Bad, and he has to do some work to right the wrongs he’s done in his relationships with Jean, Tommy, and his neighborhood bartender and friend, Wayne (Robert Duvall, The Godfather). Bad brings the movie to a conclusion that might not be totally “country” but is entirely satisfying.
Throughout the movie, part of the fun is seeing the exploration of art versus real life. Both Jean and Bad are writers who struggle with their art; Bad hasn’t written a song in three years, and when he finally does, Jean is jealous that the words just come out of him. Although fans might ignore the question, Bad knows that his art and life are the same. When Jean interviews him and asks where his songs come from, he replies, “From life, unfortunately.” Jean has to fight more with the idea that art and life can be one. Part of her knows that it’s not a good idea to let an alcoholic 57-year-old country singer look after her four-year-old son, but she loves the artist and his art so much that she tries to ignore the risk. Because it’s a movie, and musicians are often romanticized, the audience wants to ignore the risk too. However, Jean finally has to face the fact that covering suffering and addiction with guitar solos and catchy choruses doesn’t get rid of it.
Country music fans already know they should see this movie. I’d also recommend it to other movie fans: anyone who is intrigued by the pain of a hard life and lost chances in the style of Randy (Mickey Rourke, The Informers) in last year’s The Wrestler, or anyone who loves seeing the stories of artists and their art.
