Crazy Heart is a nice little picture of redemption that hits all the expected beats and is solidly crafted from start to finish with a bunch of quality songs to enjoy along the way.
The story follow Bad Blake a past his prime singer songwriter who has been supplying hits for a young country superstar, Tommy Sweet, as he tours dive bars and bowling alleys poking his head into sobriety only rarely along the way. When he rolls into Santa Fe, Bad meets a journalist, Jean, that he at first tries to bed as any old groupie, but develops a stronger connection with her and her son, Buddy, and finds a bit more meaning in his life with Jean and Buddy in it. Added to this, his agent and Tommy begin really pushing him towards writing Tommy some new material and after an appearance as Tommy’s opening act at a major concert, Bad, begins to dream up some new numbers. Though the alcoholic inside him doesn’t let him stay on his high streak for long.
The film was shot for not a lot of money and first time director Scott Cooper does a nice job at getting the most out of it.   [Read more...]