By Jared Curtis jared@dmcityview.com
‘Crazy Heart’
Directed by Scott Cooper
Rated R, 112 minutes
One man dominated the recent awards season, and his name is Jeff Bridges. His role as Bad Blake, a broken down, alcoholic country singer, received both critical and commercial praise and led him to his first Oscar for “Best Actor” in a storied career. Bridges low growl and grizzled physique perfectly fit a man who had it all and lost it all. After days on the road of playing broken down bars and bowling alleys, Blake meets a budding music journalist named Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal, nominated for Best Supporting Actress) and falls in love. “Crazy Heart” isn’t the best movie ever made about a down-and-out singer, but the amazing music by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham, the outstanding performances by Bridges and Gyllenhaal, and the scene-stealer Robert Duvall make it a damn good film. CV
‘Tender Mercies’
Directed by Bruce Beresford
1983, Rated PG, 92 minutes
Sticking with the broken down and drunk country singer genre, I recommend “Tender Mercies” because it can be easily compared to “Crazy Heart.” I actually think “Tender Mercies” is a better overall film than its newest reincarnation, but both films would make a perfect double feature. Robert Duvall shines as Mac Sledge, a washed up country singer who gets a second chance with new wife Rosa Lee (Tess Harper) and her young son. Along the way, Mac tries to reconnect with his daughter Sue Anne (Ellen Barkin) from a previous marriage to country singer Dixie Scott (Betty Buckley). Duvall, who offers one of his greatest performances, took home an Oscar for “Best Actor” (his only one). “Tender Mercies” is a great story of redemption and heartache, but it’s Duvall who raises it to one of the best films in the genre. CV
