Brian B's Thoughts on Crazy Heart

It sure was nice to get The Dude back into a bowling alley, even if Bad didn't want it that way. Jeff Bridges fully embodied Bad Blake, a down on his luck and finally feeling his bad decisions former country music star. After a little bit of research I found that Bridges actually performed the songs in the movie, which certainly helped things feel authentic. Surprisingly so did Colin Farrell who I didn't really buy as a performer, though I did as an admirer of Bad.

Outside of Bridges, the film is good but not great. The performances all around were solid and, as mentioned, Bridges really stood out. The pacing was tricky. It took a long time to get where it was heading and then wrapped up pretty quickly. I'm not adverse to a slow movie but I was surprised to see that I was just over an hour into a film that felt about twice that long. This was a bit of an odd feeling for a film that I was enjoying. One of my favorite parts of the film was the last scene, with a better Bad reuniting with Jane long enough to wish each other well and understand that they had their moment and it had passed. All with a beautiful background.

The Jane/Bad relationship, while likable, didn't make a ton of sense. Bad was perhaps a little charming, Jane was perhaps looking for something to excite her, but why? We all know girls like the bad boys, even after being burned by them in the past, but excuse the feminist in me to say that Hollywood has had enough of these weak willed women. Fortunately Jane showed some back bone in the end, but it would be nice to see something new.

It was interesting to see T Bone Burnett in the credits as a producer and certainly helps explain why Bad's life on the road felt so real. Overall, a good movie with a standout performance. Thanks for pushing it up my Netflix queue!