Crazy Heart movie review from modmove

LAPDANCE LARRY

SEVENTIES SIMON

PHOTOGRAPHY

COMIC ART

INTERVIEWS

Sub-menu 1.2.1.1

FESTIVALS

EXHIBITIONS

Crazy Heart
In his directorial debut, Scott Cooper tells the story of a down but not quite out country singer Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges). The film relies heavily on the actor’s interpretative skills and the performances he receives are outstanding throughout, especially Bridges who delivers a career-defining role.

Bereft of luck and reduced to playing in bowling alleys and coffee shops, Bad Blake is in the twilight of his career and barely holding on. His alcoholic and stubborn ways have prevented him from enjoying the gilded life that many of his contemporaries are enjoying. This includes one of his earlier writing and performing partners, Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell).

The film’s believability is greatly aided by the fact that Jeff Bridges can actually play and sing. The songs in the film are also quite affecting and even if you are not a country music fan, their emotional impact will still be felt. Farrell also sings his own songs and has a surprisingly good singing voice. Maggie Gyllenhaal as single mom Jean Craddock is also very convincing even if the motivations for her romantic interest in Blake aren’t.

Throughout the film you get the sense that things are heading to a tragic finale and it’s to the filmmakers credit that they come up with an end that satisfies without being completely unbelievable, if fact the way that the end mirrors real life gives the film its most lasting impact.
Rob Hudson
www.foxsearchlight.com


also featured
NEW COMPETITIONS! The Grey Competition Thanks to Icon Film Distribution, we have ten double in-season tickets to give away to The Grey! Read more >> Shame How do you connect with the disconnected? Read more >> Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a characteristically British film. Read more >> The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo The best thing about this American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is that this is Fincher's version of Dragon Tattoo. Read more >> Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol After cutting his teeth on Pixar's The Incredibles, Brad Bird applies his ample talent and requisite enthusiasm for spy thrillers to live action in this, the latest installment in the foundering Mission: Impossible franchise. Read more >> Boxing Day Bash The annual Boxing Day movie feast presents Hollywood approaching the season’s end like it was a big fairy tale wedding with something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Read more >> Puss in Boots When a franchise runs out of steam there is always the spin-off. Read more >> Attack the Block The alien invasion genre has been hit particularly hard of late with the likes of Cloverfield, District 13, Battle: Los Angeles and Aliens vs Cowboys, each one more mediocre than the last and culminating in the downright awful Skyline. So kudos to director, Joe Cornish, for at least trying something a little different. Read more >> Immortals As eye candy, Immortals ticks all the right boxes. Read more >> In Time In Time is a competent action/thriller in the Hollywood mould but coming from director, Andrew Niccol, who also wrote and directed Gattaca and wrote The Truman Show, it is disappointingly light. Read more >> Moneyball First the conundrum, I love baseball movies but don’t especially like the game itself and would never even entertain the thought of actually watching an entire game. Read more >>


Stay up to date with modmove news
about modmove
What to know how we got started? Read more >>
read the modmove blog
Check out all the random stuff that didn't make it to the website! Read more >>
contact Us
If you have any queries or if you would like more information about modmove, we would love to hear from you! Read more >>
join our mailing list
subscribe to the mailing list and receive the modmove newsletter. Full Name Email Address Enter Word Verification in box below
search
search modmove for previous news and reviews.