Crazy About "Crazy Heart"

If you haven't seen "Crazy Heart" yet, stop everything you're doing, get to your local cinema and watch it right NOW!

It was Jeff Bridges' performance of a lifetime. I've always been a fan of Jeff. He can do comedy and drama equally well...very versatile. My favorite Jeff Bridges films include: The Fabulous Baker Boys, Sea Biscuit, Arlington Road, The Muse, The Big Lebowski, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Fearless, The Fisher King, King Kong.

The beautiful landscapes were breathtaking. I don't know where the movie was filmed, but the Western setting (New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Colorado) brought back memories of my childhood. I grew up in New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. Yikes! I'm a nomad!

I'm not a huge fan of country music, but I loved the music in this movie. The bluesy, country sound really spoke to me and I wanted to go out and buy the soundtrack.

So what's the movie about?

IMBD says: "a faded country music musician is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life during a doomed romance that also inspires him."

Rotten Tomatoes says: "thanks to a captivating performance from Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart transcends its overly-familiar origins and finds new meaning in an old story."

Moviefone says: "Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet Bad can't help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean, a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician."

I say: this is one of the best films I've seen in a long time. The transformation of Bad Blake is inspiring. He's lived a tragic life and tries to make amends for all the "bad" things he's done. He has many regrets and many sorrows. He reaches out to the adult son he never knew. He falls in love with a woman who gives him a reason to change. And through it all, he finds inspiration to write songs again.

Favorite scenes:

The fishing trip with Bad and his friend Wayne (Robert Duvall).

Bad calling his son on the phone wanting to meet with him.

Bad looking for Buddy (the little boy) in the mall.

Bad talking to Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) after going to AA.

TWO THUMBS UP!!!