Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges' Oscar-winning portrayal of aging, alcoholic country singer/guitarist/songwriter Bad Blake elevates this generic (even clichéd) morality tale. Bad drives his beat-up Chevy Suburban through the Southwest, performing one-night stands, often in smoky dive bars and bowling alleys, staggering from one motel to another. At a gig in Santa Fe, he meets a single mother, Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), an aspiring journalist who wants to know the man behind the legend. Through her probing questioning, it's revealed that Bad has blown through four marriages and has a grown son from whom he's been alienated for years. As their relationship ripens, Bad also develops an affection for Jean's four-year-old son, Buddy (Jack Nation). While there's nothing new in debut writer-director Scott Cooper's compassionate character study of a self-destructive musician, based on the novel by Thomas Cobb, Bridges brilliantly captures Bad's weary soul, transforming what could have been mundane into something masterful and memorable, including his ambivalent relationship with Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), a protégé turned superstar. Robert Duvall, one of the producers, also makes a brief appearance (Duvall had a similar role in Tender Mercies) in this low-budget character study that features a terrific soundtrack coproduced by T-Bone Burnett and the late Stephen Bruton. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes (11 min.) and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted scenes and alternate music cuts (28 min.), a “Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall on What Brought Them to Crazy Heart” cast featurette (3 min.), and a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for this character drama featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Bridges.] (S. Granger)