Fanfare for the Has Been

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  • YOhio
    Hipster Mode
    • Nov 2008
    • 26165
    #1

    Fanfare for the Has Been

    Following the template written by The Wrestler, Crazy Heart is the story of once great Country Star Bad Blake who is marvelously cast with Jeff Bridges. Bad is from the Outlaw vein of country music; a toxic mix of George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard. The movie opens with him pulling into a bowling alley in Pueblo, Colorado with his beat-to-hell 78' Suburban getting ready to play a show. He meets with the alley owner who, while fawning all over him, has to inform him that he can't run a bar tab. It goes downhill from there for ole' Bad. We watch him marinate in McClure's Whiskey, wake up next to a pretty rough partner, burn through money and cigarettes and vomit into trash cans and filthy toilets. It's so vivid you can practically smell him. But despite his problems he manages to catch the eye of a milfy Maggie Gylenhaal, who does a solid job playing the romantic counterpart to a dude twenty years her senior (no offense SU). She did have a pretty rough interaction with a tube top, but it was only for a few minutes. The other two stars of the show delivered well. Robert Duvall plays his bartending buddy who is a great source of support and plays the old man friend role very well. Colin Ferrell plays his protege who completely eclipses him, but ends up being a pretty solid dude.

    One of the best parts of the film is the soundtrack, written and produced by T-Bone Burnett. If you like Outlaw country, you should see this just for the music. Both Jeff Bridges and Colin Ferrell do a fine job with the vocals and it has some Buck Owens, Waylon and Townes Van Zandt. There is also some pretty good Southwestern scenery on full display. Even though parts were set in New Mexico, I didn't see one hamburger smothered in green chiles.
    Tags: None
    • woot
      Resident Science Cop
      • Nov 2008
      • 5531
      #2
      I also enjoyed it, but it could have been much, much better. The first half was good, as it got us really interested in Bad's career (or lack thereof), and his money problems. Then, the writers completely forget about that, and lead us on a by-the-numbers alcoholism story. My GF and I simultaneously predicted exactly the point at which he would hit bottom, go to rehab, and get his life together. What we didn't expect is that the whole process would take less than 4 minutes of screen time. Anyone on here could have written that part:

      1. Pass out drunk still holding a bottle of whiskey 2. Call your mentor and admit you have a problem 3. Enter rehab 4. Walk through the woods for 20 seconds in a ponderous fashion. 5. All better! Ugh. the whole fiasco with losing the kid to set that process up was a totally predictable distraction from the plot and took way too long.

      The wrap-up was just as bad. Every loose end is tied up in about two minutes at the very end in the least dramatic fashion imaginable.

      The music was overall pretty decent, but the big song that was supposed to be his big triumph is totally lame -- banal lyrics accompanied by static, half-assed travis picking. No wonder the song wasn't actually featured much in the climax.

      But overall, it's still worth seeing. Bridges is really good, and I've really liked Farrel in everything I've seen him in (In Bruges is still my favorite movie of 2008). His southern accent is particularly impressive compared to his natural brogue. I like the way the relationship between these two characters plays out. It's a shame the relationship between Bad and Gyllenhall's character couldn't have been handled in a similarly interesting way.

        Comment

        • YOhio
          Hipster Mode
          • Nov 2008
          • 26165
          #3
          Originally posted by woot View Post
          I also enjoyed it, but it could have been much, much better. The first half was good, as it got us really interested in Bad's career (or lack thereof), and his money problems. Then, the writers completely forget about that, and lead us on a by-the-numbers alcoholism story. My GF and I simultaneously predicted exactly the point at which he would hit bottom, go to rehab, and get his life together. What we didn't expect is that the whole process would take less than 4 minutes of screen time. Anyone on here could have written that part:
          It definitely could have been fleshed out a bit more, maybe show a relapse or two. I didn't even realize he was in rehab until Robert Duvall picked him up. I just thought the Houston AA Chapter had some cool meeting locations.

          I liked how they ended the relationship with Bad and Jane. They could have made it easy and had them get back together, but they really didn't have much going to begin with. He was a disgusting old drunk who always had his pants unbuttoned and she was a solid-citizen mom. It was doomed from the beginning. I did like the part where he gave her the check to give to the kid. A totally irresponsible thing to do, but his bad judgment continues even in sobriety. He didn't even endorse it!

            Comment

            • Lost Student
              BAND!
              • Nov 2008
              • 4324
              #4
              You didn't answer the question that is on everybody's mind--was it as good as Pregnancy Pact?
              "Seriously, is there a bigger high on the whole face of the earth than eating a salad?"--SeattleUte
              "The only Ute to cause even half the nationwide hysteria of Jimmermania was Ted Bundy."--TripletDaddy
              This is a tough, NYC broad, a doctor who deals with bleeding organs, dying people and testicles on a regular basis without crying."--oxcoug
              "I'm not impressed (and I'm even into choreography . . .)"--Donuthole
              "I too was fortunate to leave with my same balls."--byu71

                Comment

                • YOhio
                  Hipster Mode
                  • Nov 2008
                  • 26165
                  #5
                  Originally posted by Lost_Student View Post
                  You didn't answer the question that is on everybody's mind--was it as good as Pregnancy Pact?
                  I think you're making fun. PP and CH are two totally different movies, pretty much impossible to compare the two.

                    Comment

                    • Green Lantern
                      Has overcome great fear
                      • Aug 2009
                      • 2289
                      #6
                      Originally posted by woot View Post
                      I also enjoyed it, but it could have been much, much better. The first half was good, as it got us really interested in Bad's career (or lack thereof), and his money problems. Then, the writers completely forget about that, and lead us on a by-the-numbers alcoholism story. My GF and I simultaneously predicted exactly the point at which he would hit bottom, go to rehab, and get his life together. What we didn't expect is that the whole process would take less than 4 minutes of screen time. Anyone on here could have written that part:

                      1. Pass out drunk still holding a bottle of whiskey 2. Call your mentor and admit you have a problem 3. Enter rehab 4. Walk through the woods for 20 seconds in a ponderous fashion. 5. All better! Ugh. the whole fiasco with losing the kid to set that process up was a totally predictable distraction from the plot and took way too long.

                      The wrap-up was just as bad. Every loose end is tied up in about two minutes at the very end in the least dramatic fashion imaginable.

                      The music was overall pretty decent, but the big song that was supposed to be his big triumph is totally lame -- banal lyrics accompanied by static, half-assed travis picking. No wonder the song wasn't actually featured much in the climax.

                      But overall, it's still worth seeing. Bridges is really good, and I've really liked Farrel in everything I've seen him in (In Bruges is still my favorite movie of 2008). His southern accent is particularly impressive compared to his natural brogue. I like the way the relationship between these two characters plays out. It's a shame the relationship between Bad and Gyllenhall's character couldn't have been handled in a similarly interesting way.
                      I agree that the character and plot beats were pretty by-the-numbers. (For the record, I felt the same way about THE WRESTLER, which I also enjoyed.) Even the first time he took the kid out for the day I was thinking "Okay, this will go well so that it's even worse when it goes bad later." But a movie like this is all about inhabiting a character, which Jeff Bridges does better than just about anybody.

                      I made a few comments about this movie over in the Last Movie I Watched thread but to recap, one of my favorite things about the film was the fact that it avoided the cliche of relying on big emotional showcase acting. I hate that stuff. Instead, every time I thought it could go that way, it detoured into conversations between characters that used subtlety and nuance to move the relationships along. Subtext instead of text. I thought this was especially true in the scenes between Bad Blake and Colin Farrell's character. Great stuff.
                      Kids in general these days seem more socially retarded...

                      None of them date. They hang out. They text. They sit in the same car or room and don't say a word...they text. Then, they go home and whack off to internet porn.

                      I think that's the sad truth about why these kids are retards.

                      --Portland Ute

                        Comment

                        • Lost Student
                          BAND!
                          • Nov 2008
                          • 4324
                          #7
                          Originally posted by YOhio View Post
                          I think you're making fun. PP and CH are two totally different movies, pretty much impossible to compare the two.
                          How did you come to the conclusion that they are two totally different movies without making some sort of comparison?

                          And I was only making fun of the fact that you viewed and reviewed PP. I'm pretty sure that you did so in jest. If I thought you watched and posted the review of PP in seriousness, I probably wouldn't have commented.

                          Oh, and San Dimas, I mean Dayton Flyers Rule! :dayton:
                          "Seriously, is there a bigger high on the whole face of the earth than eating a salad?"--SeattleUte
                          "The only Ute to cause even half the nationwide hysteria of Jimmermania was Ted Bundy."--TripletDaddy
                          This is a tough, NYC broad, a doctor who deals with bleeding organs, dying people and testicles on a regular basis without crying."--oxcoug
                          "I'm not impressed (and I'm even into choreography . . .)"--Donuthole
                          "I too was fortunate to leave with my same balls."--byu71

                            Comment

                            • YOhio
                              Hipster Mode
                              • Nov 2008
                              • 26165
                              #8
                              Originally posted by Lost_Student View Post

                              Oh, and San Dimas, I mean Dayton Flyers Rule! :dayton:
                              :rockon1:

                                Comment

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