CRAZY HEART: whiskey soaked magnificence

With his best days far behind him, has-been country music star Bad Blake is on a booze soaked, chain-smoking back road to oblivion, eeking out a living by trading on those past glories in the bars and bowling alleys of rural Texas and New Mexico.

At one such gig he's introduced to Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a single mom and journalist who wants to interview him for an article.  Despite the age difference and Blake's serious alcohol problem the two hit it off and a budding romance develops. But is Jean's love enough to pull him out of his downward spiral?
I'm not going to give away the ending. I'll just remind you that Blake's a country singer and country is not a genre built on celebrating the redemptive qualities of the love of a good woman.
The smell of whiskey and stale cigarettes permeates Jeff Bridges' masterful portrayal of Blake. He doesn't just play the part, he is  the part so completely and utterly that you'll forget within minutes that you're watching Bridges and believe in Blake as a real-life character. He gets under the skin of the part in a way we rarely seen on screen. There's not a single false note from start to finish, and the authenticity is enhanced by having Bridges sing his own songs. I'm no fan of country music but these sound like the real deal; genuine stripped down, unaffected, old school country tales of lives mis-spent and good love gone bad.

Magnificently impressive as Bridges is, the film's biggest surprise is Colin Farrell's convincing performance as Blake's former protege, Tommy Sweet, who's now enjoying the kind of career Blake should had if his demons hadn't led him astray. Farrell displays the kind of maturity and depth that's been glimpsed but rarely in his previous films.   
CRAZY HEART is a film that takes it's time and for that I'm extremely grateful because it allowed me to spend more time getting to know Blake and share in his travails. 
Both Bridges and Gyllenhaal are totally deserving of their Oscar nominations and, much as I enjoyed George Clooney's Best Actor Academy Award nominated performance in Up in the Air there will be something seriously wrong if Bridges doesn't walk off with the Oscar tomorrow night in Hollywood.