'Crazy Heart:' Another far underappreciated classic

At a time when going to the movie theater to enjoy a great film is virtually impossible, it thus seems a fine opportunity to go back and discuss – though Bridges won an Oscar for best actor and Gyllenhaal was nominated in a supporting role – a still, markedly under-appreciated and vastly under-talked about film: “Crazy Heart.”

Released in 2009 – at yet another very difficult historical time – and starring the always gritty Jeff Bridges, as well as the equally talented and ethereal performance of Maggie Gyllenhaal, this film, which is in many ways a typical storyline, superbly maps the classic and often expected wayward path of an aging musician’s once superstar life.

As noted, making new films with age-old plots that have literally been done ad naseum truly requires something extra special to make it worth a viewer’s time. As a matter of fact, even the mega-hyped recent films of this ilk – “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “A Star is Born,” to name the two most obvious ones – disappointed on some level, due, at least in part, to the aforementioned preliminary overpraise.

In contrast to those highly promoted films noted above, “Crazy Heart” flew far under the radar, while also co-starring Colin Farrell as the, of course, up and coming country star heart-throb and protege of Bridges.

Like finding the local “mom-and-pop” restaurant with the best ethnic cuisine of its kind in a city or town, this film represents that same, yet to be discovered gem: delving deep below the onion’s surface of this all too often “glamorized” life, and instead depicting the rather fractured, empty or hollow existence that so many artists actually endure – or, as is often the case, bring upon themselves.

Blending the extremely usual elements of a musical icon story – romantic relationships, family, bumpy career missteps and financial issues – nevertheless, the writer manages to reach out and captivate the audience, due to magnificently simple scenes, at least on the surface, that are immersed with equal levels of magical artistic talent, sadness, desperation and hope.

Nothing short of earthy, yet divine portrayals from Bridges and Gyllenhaal inject even more conviction and nostalgia to this compelling story. No superficial, Hollywood-like sugar-coating occurs to diminish the tough and tumultuous testimonial that details their lives – thus piercing the viewers’ emotions and delivering one moving moment after another.

Aside from the numerous, superbly crafted scenes that mesh these three main characters together – all of which were situated in seemingly mundane, yet perfect cinematic settings – an equally breathtaking musical soundtrack throughout produced absolutely unneeded metric and rhythm to this masterpiece, bending and twisting ones emotions with each new, if not somewhat predictable, turn of events.

Every time one views this film, the depth of the marks it leaves become appreciably more pronounced. It truly is a gift to watch such a refreshingly rare, honest and eye-opening portrayal. This spectacular film is inundated with extraordinarily straightforward and meaningful messages: if nothing else, that fame or no fame, there is a significant life price to pay for one’s actions.

Filled with regrets, resolutions and attempts at redemption, this story will leave audiences overwhelmed and deep in thought – a remarkably basic, but profoundly human story. For anyone who embraces pure old-fashioned dramas, this film provides all the impact of any computer-generated explosion simulated in a typical science fiction story. Like – at least seemingly – most of the great films ever made, “Crazy Heart” is laden with a gut-wrenching, roller-coaster like plot that evokes reality, not fantasy, and it is this very element that makes it shine far above many others.