Gone Fishin'
All the Hollywood buzz says that Jeff Bridges is going to win an Oscar for his performance in this movie as an aging alcoholic country musician named Bad Blake. So I went to see for myself what all the fuss was about. It certainly is a good performance, maybe even perfect, but ultimately the movie itself is just so forgettable that any recognition, especially something as big as an Oscar, is simply not warranted. This movie will be lost to the sands of time in ten years. I’d be surprised if anyone was watching it a year from now. Can we really not think of anybody else who would be worthy of the gold statuette this year?
Crazy Heart follows the travels of a country musician named Bad Blake. Bad used to be big-time. Now he tours the country alone in his car playing at very small joints. His persona includes bad habits. He habitually chain-smokes and drinks. People instinctively know what type of whiskey to use when they buy him a drink. He’s been divorced several times and hasn’t written a song in three years. He has a son but has never talked to him. Other than that he’s a pretty laid back guy whom is easy to get along with. Jeff Bridges plays the part so convincingly that it can be hard to believe that there isn’t already a Bad Blake out there that looks just like him. In fact, it very much dawned on me that Bridges could probably tour the country as this guy right about now and the concerts would be definitely worth the ticket. The music in this film, written for the film by T. Bone Burnett, comprises one of the best soundtracks of a movie I have seen this year. The one Oscar nomination this movie deserves is the one for Best Song for “The Weary Kind.”
The main problem with this movie is that there is just this incredible lack of conflict in the storyline. Nothing really happens nor is the main character challenged in any significant way. For one thing, the movie completely lacks an antagonist. For example: Bad Blake gets mad at his agent for his hurting career but is informed that he will have a record deal just as soon as he writes new material. He’s no longer as famous but everyone he meets is very polite and women still line up for one-night stands. One is a reporter played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. One thing I learned from this movie is that being a reporter is a great way to hit on rock-stars. (“Hey can I get an interview with you in your hotel room?”) Then there is his protégé, Tommy Sweet played by Colin Farrel, who has made it big and left Bad Blake behind. There is a hint of bad blood here but once the two characters meet in the movie there is nothing but reconciliation. Tommy Sweet asks him to open for his concert, joins him during a song, and sincerely apologizes for any wrongs he may have done to Blake in the past. Finally, Bad Blake has issues with his substance abuse. Well, about five minutes of movie time in AA meetings and all of that is taken care of too. His relationship with the reporter does end poorly but I didn’t really care. I didn’t want them to be together anyway. The dude is twice her age.
In other words this movie isn’t tragic to the point of catharsis in any way. Nor is it funny enough to be considered a comedy. (There are some good one-liners. My favorite was, “Aint remembering wonderful.”) I suppose it could be considered a character study but who knows. My suggestion is to buy the soundtrack and listen to it while going fishing or lazing about the house drinking. There is no special reason to see this movie. (Unless of course you like watching other people going fishing or lazing about the house drinking. There are a bunch of scenes that are exactly that. Most people I know would rather do it themselves though.)
I can understand why Jeff Bridges would get an Oscar nomination. He totally carries this film. But for the life of me I can’t understand why Maggie Gyllenhaal would get any recognition. I’ve always liked this actress but there has to be better performances out there. I would say this year’s Oscar nominations for the acting categories reflect more than anything, the Academy’s tremendous lack of creativity. They just can’t imagine a comedian or an action star deserving a nomination. I will talk in a later post on who I think should have been nominated, but suffice to say Gyllenhaal will not be one of them. Somebody somewhere has been unfairly overlooked.
One more thing: What the hell is Colin Farrell doing in this movie as a huge country music superstar? Does that strike anyone else as completely inauthentic? I can only suppose that they obviously miscast the part to drive home the point that Bad Blake is Real Country (whatever that means).
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