Crazy Heart

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Hollywood stalwart Jeff Bridges is given a gift of a role, in this conventional but well played drama about a washed-up country singer grasping on to his dwindling fame. Plaudits have deservedly found their way to Bridges, who essentially plays Johnny Cash - had he not found Jesus and ditched the stimulants. It's that typical Oscar bait where the lead character must hit rock bottom before realising the error of his ways, but its minimalism also allows you to take in some superb acting. It takes a long time making its point, but cameos from Colin Farrell and (a brilliant) Robert Duvall brighten up proceedings considerably.

Bridges is Bad Blake, a man who was once the cream of the country music crop; but his degenerative drinking and general hard-living ways have seen him forced to travel America, living off of his old fame playing bars and bowling alleys for money. Meanwhile, his onetime protégé, Tommy Sweet (nicely played by Farrell) is selling out arenas. It looks like Bad is on a road to an early grave, when he meets Maggie Gyllenhaal's reporter, and the two begin a relationship that causes Bad to revaluate how he has been living.

While the relationship between Bridges and Gyllenhaal at the core of this film is certainly a catalyst for Bad to see the error of his ways, for a long point she seems to be enabling him. Thanks to a strong turn from Gyllenhaal, you get the impression that she too may have once beem overly fond of the bottle, but it's never really clear.

There are a lot of scenes with Bridges passed out, passing out and spewing up that afternoon's menu - after the first couple, we got the point - but writer/director Cooper seems intent on really emphasizing how much of a pisshead Bad really is. While the pacing may be borderline lethargic, when it does move, it does so extremely well. Duvall is on screen for all of ten minutes, but when he is, you get the impression that the real story is the relationship between his character and Bad. A subtle, unspoken bond exists between the two, and both actors convey that wonderfully.

Universally great performances make Crazy Heart well worth seeing, but the slow moving conventions of the plot may cause you to nod off from time to time.