Crazy Heart

I finally caught up with this movie on DVD - I'd been meaning to see it for some time, but never gotten around to it, until now that is. I've always enjoyed these type of movies and Crazy Heart comes from a long line of movies about troubled singers - think of it as Honkeytonk Man crossed with That'll Be The Day.

Jeff Bridges plays aging. downward bound country singer, Bad Blake. The guy's life is in a mess - he's an alcoholic with a string of failed marriages behind him, and a career that had stalled. He's got to the point where he's having to open shows for a singer he mentored (Colin Farrell) and brought through.

 It sure is a sorry existence for Bad Blake, but when Bad meets Jean, an unmarried journalist with a young boy, he sees in her a chance for the happiness which has eluded him all these years. The driving theme is that of a love story but there's nothing schmaltzy here and the stunning Oscar winning performance by Bridges makes this an excellent movie. Bad's self destructive steak is a mile wide and even when the doctors tell him he's killing himself he still reaches for the booze and cigs.

The harder the life, the sweeter the song.

Robert Duvall is also excellent as Bad's one and only true friend, perhaps the only man in his circle of friends who wants nothing from him, and cares about him as a person and not as a one time country music legend. All in all it's a great movie that shows us the underbelly of Americana - it's both sad and joyous. An excellent movie with great performances from the entire cast.

The soundtrack is also excellent - now I like country music but I've little time for the poppy stuff that often dominates in movies such as this, but the songs and artists have been picked carefully from the cream of true country music, both current and vintage. And Jeff Bridges himself performs several of the tracks on the soundtrack and you know what - he does just fine. Then again Bridges started out as a musician and has released several albums over the years.

"I dug what an actor did, but it took me a while to feel it, to truly appreciate the craft and the preparation. Plus, I was still playing music a lot, and I guess I had a hard time choosing: was I an actor or a musician, or could I be both? Jeff Bridges

Below is the full tracklisting of the soundtrack album:

1.	"Hold On You"	Stephen Bruton, T-Bone Burnett, John Goodwin, Bob Neuwirth	Jeff Bridges	2:53
2.	"Hello Trouble"	Orville Couch, Eddie McDuff	Buck Owens	1:52
3.	"My Baby's Gone"	Hazel Houser	The Louvin Brothers	2:46
4.	"Somebody Else"	Bruton, Burnett	Jeff Bridges	4:38
5.	"I Don't Know"	Bruton, Burnett	Ryan Bingham	2:23
6.	"Fallin' & Flyin'"	Bruton, Gary Nicholson	Jeff Bridges	3:02
7.	"I Don't Know"	Bruton, Burnett	Jeff Bridges	2:15
8.	"Once a Gambler"	Sam Hopkins	Lightnin' Hopkins	4:55
9.	"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"	Waylon Jennings	Waylon Jennings	2:55
10.	"Fallin' & Flyin'"	Bruton, Nicholson	Colin Farrell, Jeff Bridges	2:42
11.	"Gone, Gone, Gone"	Ryan Bingham, Burnett	Colin Farrell	2:39
12.	"If I Needed You"	Townes Van Zandt	Townes Van Zandt	3:26
13.	"Reflecting Light"	Sam Phillips	Sam Phillips	3:21
14.	"Live Forever"	Billy Joe Shaver, Eddy Shaver	Robert Duvall	0:50
15.	"Brand New Angel"	Greg Brown	Jeff Bridges	3:48
16.	"The Weary Kind" (Theme from Crazy Heart)	Bingham, Burnett	Ryan Bingham	4:18
Total length:				48:43