Friday Reviews: Crazy Heart and BPFTOI
I can't believe I have been so laggard that I haven't even responded to my lovely, valued commenters! It's just that I've been tied up in rehab, after years and years of puking into oil-barrel trashcans and searching out my one brand of whiskey and forgetting to zip my fly.Just kidding. Those are Bad Blake's problems, not mine. I'm just having a busy week of work, folks, but I'll follow up soon on everything you've been nice enough to say in response to the previous entries.
And by the way, expect a timeslot change for this new Friday Reviews series. The whole world publishes new reviews on Fridays, and I need the weekend. "Monday Reviews": doesn't that sound nice?
Also, even if this isn't a review per se, the latest installment of the Best Pictures from the Outside In series that Mike, Nathaniel, and I write together premiered on Mike's site this morning. I'll have more to say soon on adjacent subjects, but for now, it's never too early to go read the transcript, leave your comments on Mike's blog, and if you're curious, keep track of my ongoing archive of Best Picture watching, including links to all of the BPFTOI conversations and reader polls about your own favorites.
Labels: Best Picture, Blog Buddies, Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Reviews
posted by NicksFlickPicks at 12:00 AM
6 Comments:
I know that you've said you quit the Oscar season this year, but I'm curious about what your thoughts are on Jeff Bridges recieving his first Academy Award for this performance? I haven't seen Crazy Heart yet, so maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but the idea of a great thespian like him finally being recognized for such an...Oscar-baity performance saddens me somewhat. It's sort of the way I felt when Kate Winslet won for The Reader last year. Fine work, to be sure, but it's not what everyone will remember her for.
Also, are you going to do a Nick's Flick Pick Honorees this year?
@Robert: I'm actually pretty okay with it. Actors who are this overdue frequently win for weaker performances, and I think the handicaps built into Crazy Heart as a vehicle are prompting some folks to underestimate just how good Bridges is in the movie. I certainly think his acting is stronger and more consistent here than Winslet's is in The Reader, though I like that film better than I like Crazy Heart.
I'd like to post Honorees this year and I'm sure I will in some form or another... but don't be disappointed if they take a much less elaborate form than in years past. Hopefully, the balancing virtue will be that I actually finish them!
Saw Crazy Heart today and rushed home to check Rotten Tomatoes and could not believe all the rapturous reviews. Searched for a critical review and found yours. You are completely right on! The movie didn't work in so many ways, starting with a complete lack of chemistry between the main characters and continuing on to the predictable crisis with the young son and the laughable rehab scene. Boy, if getting sober were that easy it's a wonder more people don't try it!
I do love Bridges, though so the movie wasn't a complete waste of time.
@Chris: Thanks so much for this note. The number of people who write back to specific reviews in order to threaten, impugn, denounce, or disagree is always about 20 times the number who say what you said... and I have to admit, it really is nice to hear!
I agree with your assessment of Crazy Heart. Bridges is fine in the movie but I actually never forgot he was Bridges. I thought the script was full of forgettable scenes and Bad Blake's relationship with the Gyllenhaal's character was so predictable. I don't know why Gyllenhaal was nominated. My favorite scene in the film was with Bridges and Duvall going fishing in the boat. I did like Farrell but as you say, they don't develop him as a character so he doesn't get to give a full performance (though I liked his singing of The Weary Kind).
I can't get excited about the film or even Bridges in the film, and I seem to be in the minority. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if this film hadn't been released late in the Oscar season.
.Oscar-baity performance saddens me somewhat. It's sort of the way I felt when Kate Winslet won for The Reader last year. Fine work, to be sure, but it's not what everyone will remember her for.
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