Movies

I never saw this back when it came out, it seemed like a career Oscar for bridges. Having now seen it, no way this performance would've gotten traction had Bridges not been known. it's not a very dramatic, very showy piece of work, and it's definitely such a surprise it was able to garner such enthusiasm from different people and from the Academy as a whole. Bridges is still great though, just not what you'd expect. Maggie Gyllenhaal is also really effective. Her character doesn't have a whole lot of notes to play but she does everything pretty well and while her Oscar nod came as a real shock, not totally undeserving. It's a nice performance, in a nice but unextraordinary film.

... superbly performed by Jeff Bridges, who leaves you under no illusion of the self destruction and annihilation suffered and endured by such lost souls, as he chances upon a woman (he's got more chance of winning the lottery) in a not particularly interesting story that requests you to suspend your belief in reality in order for the relationship to exist - which is pure fantasy and completely devalues the experience.

If I had to describe "Crazy Heart", I'd call it a country song that's been thrown up onto the big screen. And I say that in the most complimentary fashion because it's the kind of quiet, worn-down cowboy song that sneaks up behind you and does so without being ostentatious or melodramatic.The cast here all hold their own (between Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell), but it's the star turn from Jeff Bridges that really makes this shine. He embodies the pain and self-recrimination of a has-been performer on the downslope of life. Like the rest of the movie, he's organic and the award-winning performance speaks for itself. 7/10