Crazy Heart

(M) Fox DVD/BD

Jeff Bridges is a professional drunk. Several times he’s played alcoholic characters to a memorable end (notably, his sloshed slacker The Dude in The Big Lebowski).

In Crazy Heart, Bridges is washed-up country singer Bad Blake, who has a drinking problem as big as the problem he has with living.

Beyond showcasing how alcohol abuse can consume and destroy people, Blake also represents the corrosive impact of bearing grudges and being bitter about how things have turned out.

For playing Blake, Bridges took home the Best Actor Oscar this year. Bridges’ crabby yet moving performance is the lifeblood of Crazy Heart, which, overall, is a trumped-up telemovie founded on the cliché of unexpected love opening the door to redemption.

Blake’s relationship with a single mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal) about one-third of his age is the key to his “recovery” but their unbelievable pairing is the film’s weakest link.

More fascinating is Blake’s crusty dealings with former apprentice Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) as we see blustery Blake continue to sabotage his own future because of pride, anger and envy.

As such, Crazy Heart is a helpful case study of the person you don’t want to become.

Ben McEachen