Somthin's Gone Crazy

About a week ago, I attended a fine, cheap matinee showing of a film which I envied for three days straight. The theatre was vintage, with raked seating instead of stadium, and I entered down the center aisle like a red carpet first timer not knowing where to look. The back of the theatre was mildly packed with an older crowd which quickly called my attention to the fact that I was the youngest person in the house. Another wild anomaly was the sheer volume of these couples who had actually purchased theatre popcorn, an expense I always avoid due to calorie counts and $6 dissatisfaction. This is not your typical movie-going populus. Perhaps it was the matinee at 5:15pm on a Tuesday, perhaps it was the old fashioned style of the place, or perhaps it was actually just that the film I had been dying to see for all the reasons these folks would never understand had actually peaked their wise ol' interest. And who could blame them? They remember when country blues music had nothing to do with 17 year old skinny white girls.*

Crazy Heart comes off as a typical tale of the burnt-out musician who finds something for which to strive. It's a simple story about a simple man whose lifestyle just is not working for him anymore, and anyone could see it as such. As I had affectionately called it prior to viewing, it's The Wrestler set to country music. What makes the film brilliant and significant (and not The Wrestler) is Jeff Bridges. His performance is so true and scarred that "Bad" Blake is no longer a fictional country leftover, but a true musician. He is the composite of so many true stories: Kris Kristopherson, Merle Haggard, T-Bone Walker, maybe even a little Johnny Cash. And, of course, everyone is buzzing now about Bridges Oscar nomination**

Now then, as I said before, I envied this film for three days. I still do, mildly, and occasionally will ruffle through interviews and such reviewing film maker Scott Cooper's process. I still want to read the script. Cooper wrote the script (actually an adaptation) after being unable to get Haggard's life rights due to his ex-wife's interference. After spending time on tour with Haggard and putting in so much research, he was given the novel, Crazy Heart, in a culminating inspiration to write this story. This is his first script, but I suppose when you have friends like Robert Duvall it doesn't matter if it's your first time picking up a pen. After getting Bridges and T-Bone Burnett on board, it was just a matter of filming. Now, Cooper, being a first time screenwriter, was also a first time director; this includes high school plays, performance art pieces, not even a beat poetry show. Yet, the simplicity of the story, and the emphasis on character, made the shooting last a grand total of 24 days. Yes, that's right, 24 DAYS! First time writer/director...24 days.

My jealousy subsides when I watch "Bad" collapsed on the bed in his small Texas homestead nursing a bottle of whiskey. The phone rings, and Buddy giggles on the other end of the line before handing the phone to Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Before the conversation surpasses our interest, "Bad" hangs up the phone swiftly and runs to the bathroom, vomiting all over creation. I am thrown back to the disparate Dude whose disinterest with follies like these is so disparate from "Bad"'s that I recognize how disarming it is to watch an old-burnt out country musician in this state. And not once does my mind travel to Jeff Bridges, as a man, as an actor. And despite all my hyped envy at the creation of this movie, I find it ultimately fulfilling that the minimalism of the narrative allows the characters to create themselves in a world free of filmmaker hands. I am happy because Crazy Heart is so untainted by the artist or visionary. It's just a story about a man and his music. Don't we all wish it was that easy?
Crazy Heart on IMDB


*I reference here Taylor Swift.
** I believe he rightly deserves the win, and for this film, too. Like no film before it could muster the impact of this performance, and I'm actually glad the academy hasn't honored him before because this one just feels so right for Bridges. A role he was made to play.