In what many have claimed is the role of Jeff Bridges’s life, Bad Blake is Crazy Heart’s protagonist: a washed-up, chain-smoking, alcoholic country singer. Bad drives from town to town across the cinematographically stunning American Southwest playing shows to a small, aged, and inexplicably dedicated fans.
Bitter from his falling out with his incredibly successful protégé Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), Bad refuses to change his ways or write new songs despite his agent’s nagging. Short on money, Bad caves, though, into opening for Tommy’s amphitheater concert in Phoenix.
Before that, Bad plays two nights in Santa Fe, and agrees to an interview with local journalist Jean Craddock (an incredibly beautiful and convincing Maggie Gyllenhal). Making a not-so-long, or unusual, story even shorter, Bad and Jean fall madly in love. Homebound due to injuries he sustained in a bad car crash, against the stellar New Mexico landscape, and in tight-framed shots indicating their immediate closeness, Jean and Bad sink into a family life with Jean’s son Buddy in Santa Fe, that exudes the very laid back, mind clearing essence that is the Southwest.
There is a common joke about country music: if you play a country song backwards, you get your dog back, you get your wife back, you get your house back, and you get your job back. Until it’s all lost again to the demon of alcoholism.
Screenwriter-Director Scott Cooper, and novelist Thomas Cobb before Cooper, rip it all away from Bad when Jean and Buddy visit him in Houston after Bad heals and goes home. Bad loses track of Buddy at a mall, and does not get a second chance to make it right. He transforms himself, sobers up, and is still denied in a tragically realistic and intense exchange between him and Jean back in Santa Fe.
Like any real country singer though, Bad returns to Texas and writes about it. The original song and theme for the film, that Bridges himself sings in part, “The Weary Kind”, is the catalyst that springs Bad beyond a sober, but stagnant, life into a life of recharged creativity and a restocked bank account. Tommy, who despite outshining Bad still admires him to an almost perplexing extent, begs Bad to write songs for him, and Bad sends off what he describes to his best friend, and former bar tender, Wayne (Robert Duvall) as “the best song I ever wrote.”
Brigdes has played the addict, the drunk and the deadbeat. Never, though, has he portrayed a lowlife so full of feeling and with so deep a problem. In a nod to his forever defining role as The Dude in The Big Lebowski, Cooper briefly sits Bad down at the bar of a bowling alley, before throwing him on a journey through the Zen garden that is the Southwestern desert where the visually and literally wide-open end scene is a subtle victory for Bridges’s subdued genius. Not to mention, Jean finally gets her full interview.
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I like how you start off with what "many" have said, lending credibility to your argument. You point out aspects of the story that I didn't think to; and I like the joke about country music. You describe things like Bad's fan base as inexplicable, as well as Tommy's admiration for him. How so? His talent certainly merits it. Other than that, which threw me off, very strong review!
ReplyDeleteI laughed at the country music joke, and I think it helped give context (though ridiculous) to your points. I enjoyed your description of The Weary Kind quite a bit, and the review was overall insightful and detailed. I was drawn in from the lede and satisfied with the conclusion, despite the minor confusion in the body.
ReplyDeleteThis review gives the reader a really comprehensive overview of the film. I like how you integrated plot summary into your analysis of other aspects of the film, like cinematography. This not only allowed you to touch on several aspects of "Crazy Heart" but it also gave your piece a logical flow.
ReplyDeleteFrom your description of the southwestern countryside to Bridges' acting, you use strong language and imagery. This made your piece engaging and entertaining. I also liked the country music joke.
I would have liked to hear a little more about Gyllenhaal's performance, but other than that, this is a great review. Well done!