If you can't get a meaty role to play, produce one! This is what several great actors seem to be doing. Charlize Theron does it. Jeff Bridges did it for "Crazy Heart", a movie that will most likely give him the elusive Oscar nod.
In "Crazy Heart", talented country singer Bad Blake (Bridges) is a directionless alcoholic who is coasting on his past glory. He is doing the rounds of honky tonk bars and bowling alleys just to earn his keep. With $10 in his pocket, he heads to Santa Fe (New Mexico) for another gig where he meets a reporter (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Then things start getting interesting when his agent offers an opening act for red-hot country star Tommy (Colin Farrell), an upstart he once "mentored". But his alcohol keeps getting in his way. He shows up at his gigs drunk and he shuttles from one state to the next dazed in his alcohol! Will he ever find salvation from these new found breaks?
Not only is it such a marvel to see Jeff Bridges perform his songs on stage, he wears Bad Blake like his own skin. We've always liked the suave and dapper Jeff Bridges of the past and though he feels under-appreciated, he was never reduced to playing extras. In fact, I just saw him play an eccentric character in a really really weird movie called "The Men Who Stare at Goats" with Ewan McGregor and George Clooney!
Shot in 24 days, with songs all done by Bridges and Colin Farrell themselves, "Crazy Heart" is an amazing film about second chances and redemption.
Jeff Bridges says about aging in the industry: "To get a good script at any age is kind of a rare thing. The movie-going audience is mainly young guys, and (producers) want to target them. It kind of makes sense from their standpoint, but an interesting story is an interesting story. I remember being a younger guy liking to see movies with older folks in them, so that never deterred me."
Jeff Bridges has always been a poster boy. In "Crazy Heart", he deglamorizes himself for a chance to snag an Oscar!
Colin Farrell sings like a pro!
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