"Pick Up Your Crazy Heart and Give it One More Try" (2009)

I'm not sure what reminded me of Crazy Heart, but about a week ago it popped back into my memory. I actually had no idea what it was about. I guess that's normal for this blog, but this time the only thing I knew about the movie was that Jeff Bridges was in it and it won an award. I had no idea it was about country music or that I'd be seeing Jeff Bridges singing. Singing! He was good enough to win awards for acting, but not all songs are music to my ears. Hit the jump to see if I think he hit the right notes!


First of all, how amusing is it that this movie opens up with Jeff Bridges pulling up to a bowling ball alley and says clearly annoyed "Fucking bowling alley." Well it turns out Jeff Bridges plays washed up old country singer Bad Blake, and this bowling alley is his next gig. He's basically poor and can't even afford the bottle of booze his lips are permanently attached to. Seriously, he drinks all the time. Not a pretty sight.

Seems the young singer he once gave a break to when he was still on top has since moved on to become a huge star. He's jealous and spiteful, and refuses to even talk about him to a young reporter he gives and interview to. The following story is about the ups and downs of this budding relationship and where it ultimately takes Bad Blake.

Jeff Bridges is either a good singer, or a good actor

The thing I liked the most about the movie wasn't the story however, I didn't care too much for that. Not that I hated it, it just didn't catch my interest all that much. What I really liked, surprising enough to me, was the music. The country music. I've never liked country music before. I was stunned. As far as I can tell these are fully produced, full length songs, made just for this movie. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm not even sure how to find that out, but what matters is that I thought they were good.

The only other thing that really stood out to me was Bad Blake's character arc. His character development if you will. Sure that's the sort of thing that's tied tightly to the story, which I just said I didn't really like, but it still stood out separate to me. I didn't care much about the woman or her kid, at the turning point in the film, I just found myself not caring. However, it's that turning point that does a lot for Blake. I don't want to spoil anything obviously, but I'll just say I liked the ending.

I say check this movie out. It's won lots of different awards, and it's got some catchy country music, even if you don't like country music. I'm not sure if Jeff Bridges actually sings and plays the songs in the movie, but it sure seems like he does. He's either a good singer/guitar player, or a good actor and the editor of this movie should be praised. Check it out for a nice little feel good movie.