Data
Title: Crazy Heart
Year: 2009
Length: 112 minutes
Director: Scott Cooper
Writer: Scott Cooper, based on the novel by Thomas Cobb
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell
Music: Stephen Bruton & T-Bone Burnett
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Actor (Bridges) and Best Song ("The Weary Kind"); Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress (Gyllenhaal)
My reaction
Synopsis: an alcoholic country singer/songwriter who used to be big doesn't write anymore
How I saw it: in the theater, yesterday
Concept: Indifferent.
Story: Good. Not a very satisfying ending. It's realistic, but anticlimactic.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Good.
Cinematography: Bad. It probably doesn't help that the theater was showing it slightly out of focus, but whatever, I can only react to what I actually see.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Great. Solid performances all around, but I suspect that if Bridges wins the Oscar, it will be largely because he was on screen for almost the entire movie.
Music: Great. Never in my life have I seen so much of the audience stay to the end of the credits.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good). Comparisons to The Wrestler are unfair. Both movies are character studies, and the two characters are very different. With that in mind, I have to say The Wrestler is almost certainly the better movie. Although this one has a lot going for it - the music, for instance. And Colin Farrell's eyebrows.
Objective Rating: 3.2/4 (Very good).
I saw this last night and loved it. I can see the comparisons to The Wrestler, but I agree that they are completely different and shouldn't be compared at all. Bridges was great but all the other performances were great, as well.
ReplyDeleteI actually had a stronger response to Gyllenhaal's performance than to Bridges'. And who would have thought Colin Farrell would make such a good all-American dirtball country star?
ReplyDeleteAgreed to the tenth degree! I was shocked at how good Farrell was.
ReplyDelete