‘Crazy Heart’ more than just Jeff Bridges

It usually takes a while, but most of the films that get nominated for Academy Awards typically end up playing in Spokane. The American ones, that is.

Anyway, I went to see “Crazy Heart” over the weekend. It wasn’t my first choice as I was still coming down from having gone on an extended movie-seeing jaunt called SpIFF 2010, and all I was in the mood for was something entertaining and, even better, totally forgettable. “Crazy Heart,” I was certain, didn’t necessarily fall in either of those categories.

I mean, what can you expect from a story about a broken-down country singer who’s still battling the bottle and his own darker self? You’ll notice that “Crazy Heart” garnered three Oscar nominations, two for acting (Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal) and one for Best Original Song (Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett for the tune “The Weary Kind”). Nothing for the film’s story or production values.

The lack of story recognition is understandable, considering the screenplay by Scott Cooper (based on the novel by Thomas Cobb) is a variation on the story told in 1983’s “Tender Mercies” (directed by Bruce Beresford, written by Horton Foote ). There are only so many ways you can tell the tale of a one-time country singing star who, down on his luck, struggles to find a way to live with his addictions. And Beresford-Foote, with the help of the great Robert Duvall, did a decent enough job that “Crazy Heart” can’t help but feel derivative.

The production values, though, are another story. “Crazy Heart” is a well-made movie, from the cinematography (the film’s exteriors were shot mostly in New Mexico) to the camera work (whether capturing the Southwest’s vast landscapes, being intimate with performers as they entertain arena audiences or doing closeups of Bridges and Gyllenhaal) and editing. That it didn’t get nominated in any of those areas is more a result of other, better known films, receiving their due attention.

But even the story behind “Crazy Heart” is better than you might think. No, it doesn’t have the overall complexity of what Foote created. But it also avoids the melodramatic big moment that comes near the end of “Tender Mercies,” a moment that tests Duvall’s character to the limit. Everything that happens in “Crazy Heart” feels real, muted in an authentic sense and dramatic in a way that reflects life instead of lampooning it.

The biggest problem is that Duvall, who won his Best Acting Oscar for “Tender Mercies,” is cast in “Crazy Heart” as well. It invites the obvious comparisons, which is unfortunate for Bridges. But as I pointed out in a post below, Bridges has been around for a while now. And he’s pulled off more than his share of enduring performances, so it’s not as if this came out of nowhere.

“Crazy Heart,” then, is worth seeing for a number of reasons. And, in the end, it’s a testament to what can happen if someone - even a country singer with only a bit of gas left in his tank - puts his mind to it. As Duvall’s character says, “It’s never too late, son, never too late.”

Not a bad tagline. I can think of far worse.

Below : Ryan Bingham performs “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart.”