Al Pacino didn’t give his finest performance in “Scent of a Woman,” the film that finally landed him an Oscar.
The award simply acknowledged Pacino’s stellar career.
The same holds true for Paul Newman’s Oscar-winning turn in “The Color of Money.”
Should Jeff Bridges win his overdue Oscar this March for “Crazy Heart” it won’t be pinned on charity.
Bridges’ performance as a broken down honky tonk singer might be the actor’s finest hour-plus on screen.
“Crazy Heart” casts Bridges as Bad Blake, a country western crooner who can’t stay sober long enough to complete a set.
He’s bloated, bleary eyed and flat broke as the story opens, but his reputation keeps getting him gigs. It also convinces a small town reporter named Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to seek him out for an article.
A romance improbably blooms between the singer and the scribe, but Blake still has to tour to make ends meet. He tries to reunite with a rising country singer (Colin Farrell) he once mentored, a handsome protege whose career could help put Blake back on the map.
But can Blake stay sober long enough to sing his own comeback song?
“Crazy Heart” reads like a shopworn concept, the boozy artist clamoring for redemption. Scott Cooper, an actor making a commanding debut as writer/director, chases preconceived notions away right from the start. Bad Blake’s story is an original.
And then there’s Bridges, fully immersing in the role of a lifetime. By the film’s end you’ll swear you’ve seen Bad Blake bringing down the house alongside the likes of Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and other country outlaws.
Bridges can sing as well as act, so it’s comfortable to watch him croon his own tunes here. The songs are impressive, indeed, coming straight from the producing studio of maestro T. Bone Burnett.
If “Crazy Heart” has a flaw – beyond a miscast Farrell – it’s the lack of grit in Bridges’ pipes. He’s lived a life and a half, maybe more, but his voice sounds as if he just gulped down a tall glass of iced tea.
“Crazy Heart” isn’t just the Oscar showcase Bridges deserves. It’s one of last year’s best film, a fact easily forgotten in the runup to Bridges’ Oscar coronation.
(Photo: Jeff Bridges delivers a startling perforamnce as a fading country singer in “Crazy Heart.” Photo by Lorey Sebastian/Fox Searchlight)
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Loved the film and bridges IS Bad Blake. i really liked colin farrell as Tommy Sweet and thought he had a surprisingly good singing voice. i’m actually pretty sad that the soundtrack doesn’t include Farrell’s version of “The Weary Kind”.
I couldn’t get lost in Farrell’s character like you did, Red, but I loved just about everything else in the film. Why it’s not being discussed for Best Pic is beyond me.