Review: Crazy Heart

Yesterday I got to see a movie I've been anticipating for some time now:

Crazy Heart
starring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal

Crazy Heart is the story of Bad Blake, an old burnt-out country star whose career is on the ropes. He's barely making enough money to live on, he drives a faltering 78' Suburban, he drinks too much, he smokes too much, and his former protege, Tommy Sweet, has a career that's to soaring Garth Brooks-esque heights. Life sucks for Bad Blake, and it's not getting any better.

That is, until his manager books a gig opening for Tommy Sweet, something he's reluctant to do, and he gets romantically involved with a budding reporter.

As other reviews have stated, this movie doesn't blaze a trail through any new territory. The characters, the plot, it's all been done before. If you saw last year's 'The Wrestler' starring Mickey Rourke, you've seen Crazy Heart.

But that's the only negative thing I have to say about Crazy Heart, and even then, that isn't such a bad thing.

First off, this movie had an amazing soundtrack! Anyone who's a fan of country music will love this movie. Jeff Bridges sings all of his own music, and looks and sounds the part of a Country music veteran of the 70s and 80s.

The only movie I can think of off the top of my heard that was more Country than this, is Walk The Line starring Joaquin Pheonix; That movie was about Johnny F'n Cash! To even come close to that standard is difficult.


Secondly, the cinematography was astounding. The sweeping shots of rural southwest America were astounding. That's a hard bit of scenery to screw up, but still, you can appreciate the rich colours and vastness this movie presented during Bad Blake's lonesome travels. You'll never get tired of looking at the screen, that's for sure.

Third, Jeff Bridges was awesome. You can't go wrong with The Dude, his performance in this movie is definitely Oscar worthy. Maggie Gyllenhaal was decent as well, and both of them have duly received nominations for their performances.

Overall I give Crazy Heart a

9.5/10

The cons: I can't really think of any. Like other people have said, it's a plot that's been done before. To equate at a country version of The Wrestler isn't incorrect. But Crazy Heart is just too good of a movie to count that as a bad point.

Also, I'm a hard-ass and I don't like to give 10 out of 10s unless I leave the theatre a changed man.

The pros:
- Great music. Even people who aren't country fans will be able to enjoy the soundtrack in this movie.
- Fantastic Acting, I mean, come on people, Jeff Bridges!
- Some truly hilarious moments that I'm still giggling about a day after the fact.
- Beautiful cinematography.
- Great story from start to finish.

Overall, this was one of the best movies I've seen a long time! The fact that movies like Avatar and District 9, both of which I really liked, are on the card for a best picture Oscar and Crazy Heart isn't, is insulting to the intelligence of the Academy.


This term gets bandied about quite a bit, but if there's one movie you should see from the lineup of Academy nominated films this year, it's Crazy Heart.