Crazy Heart proves to be inspiring

When I went to the theater last year to see Mickey Rourke in his best performance ever, The Wrestler, I was shocked at how much I liked it. I had high expectations, but they were surpassed. Rourke went on to win the Golden Globe for Best Actor, and was robbed by the Academy for a deserved Oscar win, that went to Sean Penn for his role as a gay activist turned politician in Milk. What does that have to do with anything? Well recently I saw the film Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges. Bridges, the successor to Rourke as Best Actor at the Golden Globes, plays Bad Blake, an aging country music star, who is giving it one last shot to make it, while dealing with his own demons and self-destructing nature.

In both cases, the protagonist has been left behind by time and the people in their lives. They learned a trade, expecting it would provide them with everything they needed for the rest of their lives, but as they begin to deteriorate they are disposed of for a younger, more able model.

Blake, a chain smoker who drinks like the bottle doesn't have a bottom, has plummeted from country music royalty to being surpassed by his protégé (Colin Farrell), and is now relegated to performing at bars and bowling alleys just to make it.

As the money dries up, unfortunately Bad doesn't. As his tour starts to fall apart he meets a reporter (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who is interested in interviewing the real Bad Blake and discovering the man behind the legend.

As their relationship becomes more than a newspaper article, they both start to understand just how difficult each others life is. She has obligations and responsibilities whereas he doesn't, which puts a strain on their unlikely attraction to each other. It also causes hardships they had both foreseen, but hoped would never occur, culminating in a relationship-ending trip to the bar.

Bad, just about at rock bottom, gets a call from his agent with the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to reestablish himself in the country music scene, opening for his former student (Farrell). With the money drying up and the whiskey not exactly following suit, Bad swallows his pride and agrees in hope to talk Sweet into helping him produce another record.

After the performance, Bad realizes his life is never going to be the way it was. Forming a partnership with his former pupil and finally ridding himself of some of his demons, he trudges forward, not the way he had hoped, but the only way he can.

It's interesting that in a world where things remain broken, short attention spans and movies where the guy and the girl always end up together that it's films with broken characters, who are behind the times and just can't seem to find the happy ending, that provide some of the best performances. Maybe this is because the world we live in is cruel.

Like Randy and Bad, the story isn't much different from the auto worker who thought he would always have a job, or the factory worker who thought they would never have to worry about putting food on the table. Randy and Bad are just flashier versions of the people we are leaving behind.

Bad Blake is a horse on its last leg, but not ready to give up. And much like Mickey Rourke, Jeff Bridges is an aging actor who has proven that even an old dog has inspiring and poignant performances left in the tank. Hopefully, unlike Rourke, Bridges can take home an Oscar for his performance. Critic's Rating: 4 of 4 stars.