'Crazy Heart'

'Crazy Heart' (R) ****

Written and Directed By Scott Cooper based on novel by Thomas Cobb
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Colin Ferrell, Ryan Bingham

Once in a while a performance and a film come together in perfect harmony to create something special. It doesn't happen often but it did happen last year with Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" and it does this time with the iconic Jeff Bridges and "Crazy Heart". You don't even have to like Country music to enjoy Heart just like you don't have to love Pro Wrestling to enjoy "The Wrestler". I don't love Country music like I love pro Wrestling but I love Jeff Bridges and his character in this movie. Bridges plays a somewhat washed up, alcoholic Country singer named Bad Blake who toils in small taverns and even a bowling alley singing his old songs. He is pestered by his agent to write some new songs and team up with a new style popular singer named Tommy Sweet. Blake just wants to drink mostly but he falls in love with a younger woman giving an interview of Blake played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. She has a child and Blake thinks of the son he left behind at four and loves spending time with Jean and her son. He gets offered a big tour with Tommy but Blake is on that edge of burning out and maybe even dying. This is a leisurely, beautiful and touching story with a lead performance that is perfect for the actor playing him and is one of the best performances I have ever seen.

Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors and might be my ultimate favorite actor. He has always been under the radar and somewhat taken for granted but he has done some great movies and some of my favorites. Among my top 100 favorite movies of all time Bridges has been in a lot. They include "Cutter's Way", "The Last Picture Show", "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" and he was amazing in "Starman" and gave an iconic and popular performance in "The Big Lebowski". This is his career defining performance as Bad Blake and he is perfect in walk, cadence and emotion. He gives exactly what the role calls for and you never see him acting like you see in most other actors. He has that Gene Hackman and James Garner easiness and naturalness. I do predict he has an extremely good shot at winning Best Actor at the Oscars. He just inhabits this character and never makes a wrong move. This is Deniro in "Raging Bull" and Robert Duvall in "Tender Mercies" great. In fact Duvall has a great, small part and we are reminded that he gave a great performance like this and won the Oscar in Mercies. Bridges has great support with another winning and great performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal as the young mother Blake falls in love with and it is a tender and touching love story. Also Colin Farrell gives a great cameo performance as Tommy and he is proving to be a most dependable and amazing actor. I like his singing voice which is not as deep and weary as Blake's but that is another way this movie is perfect. It compares the rougher and more roots driven old Country as opposed to the new Country that is not as deep and story driven. There is even a great and moving song that Blake writes for Tommy and should win Best Song at the Oscars. This is a nice and moving story and an outstanding character study with a flawless Bridges performance. Like Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" this is a perfect job of casting and a performance that belongs in the upper echelon of screen performances. If you like great acting and a simply moving story or loved "The Wrestler" you should eat this one up.