Crazy Heart has been on the back-burner of movies for me to watch  for quite some time.  I highly respect Jeff Bridges and I admire the fact that he even acquired an Oscar for his lead performance in this film.  With all this said, it is difficult for me to process how I feel about this movie.

Otis Blake (Bridges), better known for his stage name, Bad Blake, is a washed-up country western singer.  His prime days are in the past and he now finds himself playing at local bowling alleys for crowds of 30 people.  Bad is a chain smoking, overweight, alcoholic, aging county music guitar player.  When Bad reaches a show in Santa Fe, he meets Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a local journalist who meets with him to do an article for her local newspaper.  Jean is able to look through the alcoholic country star and discovers a man who is searching for a defining point in his life.  Despite their age differences, the two form a friendship soon turned romance.  Bad continues with his small bar tour, however takes a turn when he plays for a former touring comrade, Tommy Sweet.  Bad begins writing songs for Tommy and things are starting to turn upward.  Jean and Bad are faced with his addictive past and it’s up to Bad to overcome his alcoholism and destructive lifestyle in order to pursue his country talent.

To be completely honest, 30 minutes into the movie, I was stone bored.  As previously stated, I truly admire Jeff Bridges and I think this was one of the best acting performances I have seen him do.  I was impressed with the powerful highs and especially lows of the film.  I believe each scene was beautifully crafted and conducted and cinematography was flawless.  Personally, I felt the story fell flat.  In fact, there really was no “meat and potatoes” to the story, at all.  I felt Bad’s revolution happened way too quickly and should have been processed through a bit longer than it was.  So, back to my previous statement, it’s hard for me to sort out how I felt about the entire movie.  If asked to watch it again, I would likely pass.  But- at the same time, Bridges becomes this powerful character that we fall in love with….the problem is, the character doesn’t do a whole lot.  Give Crazy Heart a watch if not for the story than just merely for the acting performance.