A sad bridge to cross for an old man
Bad Blake is a fading musician. His personal life isn’t much better, but that’s what makes him a great country singer. Blake, after a tumble in the ranks of popularity, finds himself playing music in a bowling alley. Fighting his pride, and his other addictions (which includes alcohol), he meets up with a budding journalist named Jean, who is looking for her first big story on this last stop music man. Oddly enough, the two begin to fall for each other, while Blake’s career starts to turn up a bit. Not parting from his old ways, and desperate to get back in shape with country music fans, he risks his love with Jean and his own health to make headway. The risk, regretfully, may not be worth the reward.
I adore Jeff Bridges as an actor. Since first hearing him in The Last Unicorn to making him my childhood favorite in TRON and finally watching him humor me repeatedly in The Big Lebowski, he has certainly had his variety of diverse roles; for this I respect the man. His ability to blend in so well with his characters and make you forget that he’s Jeff Bridges is nothing short of sheer talent. Every aching movement, every moment where he took a sip of a drink and every doubt and careless expression that followed will make you believe that Bridges is Bad Blake.
He’ll pull you into the story with all his faults and he’ll spit you out like a toothpick. This is why Jeff Bridges made this role work and why he earned himself an Academy Award he was long overdue for.
Now, without Jeff Bridges you have a bland story. This story of loss, redemption and loss has been told many times over. It has been told better and it has been told smoother. Without Bridges this movie is nothing more than common. So credit Bridges for making the film work, but also credit director/writer Scott Cooper for bringing the character to life through an appropriate choice of acting. Also credit Cooper for putting together a competent screenplay from Thomas Cobb’s novel. It’s difficult to bring a story, especially a cohesive one, together from a book, but Cooper pulled it off with grace.
The roller coaster ride that Cooper put together was evenly balanced. Predictable? Yes, but still very well balanced. You could see when Blake was going to fail, when he was going to win and ultimately what he was going to lose/win in the process. Bridges makes the transition smoother and he makes it all more genuine.
Before I get into the Blu-ray portion of the film, give some props to Colin Farrell. Farrell, who is generally a spaz onscreen — I say that with respect, plays a PERFECT country singer. No shit. This guy puts on a great accent and doesn’t shake it once. It’s not like Sam Worthington’s accent in Avatar where he was constantly fighting the urge to break out his Australian lingo. Farrell sounds better country than he does anything else; that’s shocking and refreshing. Anyway….
The Blu-ray version of this film is not necessary, but it’s welcomed. One of the stronger points of the film is how the miserable look of Blake comes through to drive home the point of where this man is in his life. Blu-ray enhances the misery by 10 and makes you feel even worse for him as his musical career begins to fluctuate. I never thought I would say this, but the crappier the scene the prettier the picture and the better the story. As for the audio, well, that’s just as badass as you would expect. Solid songs and beautiful sounds make this story even sweeter and bitter.
In all, the good use of audio and video, thanks to Blu-ray, makes the format the better choice.
As for features, here’s what you get:
• Deleted Scenes and Alternate Music Cuts
o Bad Plays “Somebody Else” In Santa Fe
o Jean Helps Bad Pack Up o Bad Visits Tommy Backstage
o Bad and Jean in Taos
o Bad Visits His Son
o Bad and Jean Talk About her Career
o Encouragement from Wayne
o Bad Relapses
o “I Don’t Know” Alternate Cut
o “Brand New Angel” Alternate Cut
• Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall on What Brought Them to Crazy Heart
• Digital Copy of Crazy Heart