Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges plays a drunk has-been (or never-was) country singer named Bad Blake who barely makes it to gigs, can hardly hold it together during performances, and is bitter about his protege Tommy (played by Colin Farrell) becoming a famous country music star. Maggie Gyllenhaal's character Jean is an amateur reporter trying to get an interview with Bad for a story she is writing. Bridges plays a drunk well, as we've all seen with "The Dude" in The Big Lebowski but in Crazy Heart his character has evolved; there is another layer added on - the reason the Oscars took notice I'm sure. Bad becomes a danger to himself and those around him and he's incapable of controlling his addiction. Jean does her best to love Bad, as much as anyone can love someone who puts them second in line behind their addiction, but inevitably Bad puts his drinking above responsibility and Jane has to move on.


It felt a little close to home having had an alcoholic country singer as a step-father and after a quick phone call to my mother she confirmed a similar take. "I knew that movie," she said, "I lived it."

My favorite moment in the film was after Bad finally goes to rehab to heal from his alcoholism and does the obvious - returning to Jean to try to win her back - but lo and behold Jean says no. The reason I love this moment is because so often the movies like to breeze through addiction, as if love can somehow overcome all and there is only sunshine and rainbows in your life once you find the "right" person. But that's all bullshit. AA, NA, Al-anon, they all will tell you flat out that dependence on another person, including romantic relationships, actually hinders your success at overcoming addiction. It's an obstacle to putting yourself and your health first, from realizing that you need to fix you and not someone else. They discourage dating during recovery. It tells me the writer of the novel (same name) this movie was based on came from a place of knowing, of witnessing. The characters were played to perfection, the story worked well on the screen and the music was beautiful. For me, and for my mom, this movie was sad, too real and too close, but I don't regret watching it.