Crazy Heart

Erstwhile actor Scott Cooper’s directorial debut, Crazy Heart follows grizzled country singer Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) as he falls for a thirtysomething reporter (Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Jean Craddock) and enlists a former protégé (Colin Farrell’s Tommy Sweet) in his efforts at mounting a comeback. It’s clear right from the get-go that Crazy Heart benefits substantially from Bridges’ justifiably lauded work, as the actor slips into the skin of this seriously unlikable character with an ease that’s nothing short of staggering – thus ensuring that one is initially drawn into the non-existent storyline based solely on the promise of Bridges’ Oscar-winning performance. There’s little doubt, then, that it’s the slow-paced and almost egregiously uneventful nature of Cooper’s screenplay that ultimately prevents the viewer from wholeheartedly connecting to the material, with the relatively amiable atmosphere eventually giving way to an emphasis on curiously hackneyed elements (eg Bad loses Jean’s young son while on an outing) – which ensures that the movie runs out of steam long before the credits roll. The final result is an aggressively uneven piece of work that would hardly be worth mentioning were it not for the efforts of Bridges and his stellar cast mates, although, to be fair, it’s difficult not to admire the authenticity with which Cooper has hard-wired the proceedings.

**1/2 out of ****