Why yes, it is called the Dude Ranch. Why do you ask?
Rating: 7 out of 10
With mere days to go until the Academy Awards, I’m doing my best to find and witness screenings anywhere and everywhere of the nominated films. I’ve missed a few due to the insane schedule I am currently keeping, but I was lucky enough to have a good friend offer me passes the other night for this country music moment on film that has many people raving. I jumped at the chance, strapped myself into the comfy padded seats of the screening room and here’s what came out of it.
Crazy Heart is a tale as simple and heartwarming as your favorite country tune. Bad Blake is a true country musician; smoking, drinking, loving and putting it all into his songs. He once had a shot at the big time, but life took a turn and he finds himself playing roadside bars and bowling alleys left behind by time itself. As a favor to a local musician, Bad allows himself to be interviewed by a young woman, who in turn finds herself drawn to the power and passion of his character. Yet, like in all country tunes, rocky times hit hard and Bad Blake is tested to see what kind of man he can become and if anyone will accept him if he makes it to the other side of the bottle.
First off, let me say it is dangerous for me to watch a movie about country musicians because the soundtrack gets stuck in my head and I become forced to admit to liking country music. I know deep down that there is nothing at all wrong with that, but when I was growing up country music was thought of as for old people and those who were mad about losing the Civil War. So I feel it is with a certain sense of renewed maturity that I applaud the wonderful soundtrack in the film and admit to humming the tune of Fallin’ & Flyin’. While I may have buckled on my childhood ban on country music, I am still holding strong to the fact I look terrible in a cowboy hat.
Now, on to the real review. Crazy Heart is another of those truly touching films that begins and ends with the main actor. Jeff Bridges schools Hollywood once again with what it is really like to envelop a role, live it in front of a camera and make your audience forget you, the actor, even exists. Bridges seems to revel in characters that are out of place in their own time, proven back in the day by roles like Kevin Flynn in Tron (a personal favorite) to the lead in John Carpenter’sStarman. He reached what many believed to be his cult-pinnacle inside the skin of the lackadaisical, prema-chilled sloth-man known only as “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski. In a move that will surely ruffle a few bong-tinged feathers, I report that he might have equaled that achievement with this tender and honest portrayal of an artist left behind by life. Maggie Gyllenhaal co-stars as the young woman who reignites his fire and sets him on the path to recovery. She appears on the screen with a light sense of shyness and an internal blush that radiates under the affections of Bad Blake. Her charm certainly helped keep the character afloat, but Bridges stole the show in almost every way possible. Also lending his status and talent is Robert Duvall as a bar owner and close friend to the down-and-out Blake. There are few people who bring the grit and grind of hard life people like Duvall and his few moments on screen were a continued testament to that ability.
The story itself was simple, but as I’ve said before, even simple stories can be screwed up by too much meddling. Crazy Heart strums all the right notes, but lets the song drag in a few places. I left feeling that the movie itself was not nearly as memorable as the performances.
The End of the Page Recommendation: Jeff Bridges fans should all go through the roof for this film, while those who might not know him as well are bound to get an incredible first introduction to a world-class actor. Check it out if you want to know what “Oscar worthy” really stands for.
Posted 1 year, 11 months ago at 10:23 am. Add a comment
[Click on the poster above to go to Art.com and buy the poster]
(Just no words)
This was what we’ve all been waiting for. The weekend to end all others this summer, most likely the year, possibly even years to come. The moon shone down on theaters nationwide as dedicated fans of comic books and gritty action movies alike lined up for the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight, the second in the revamped Batman franchise headed by director Christopher Nolan. The hype was dynamic, nearing the rampant fervor last held by Matrix Revolutions, but this time the anticipation and buzz machine wasn’t met with disappointment and disdain. The Dark Knight lived up to every expectation and exceeded most others. Much more than a comic book film, this piece of history breaks many of the long held rules and traditions of movie making. Without getting into too much detail, let’s just say the sun doesn’t shine down on our heroes very much and without that the audience is not given what would be considered the Hollywood ending. Nolan put his best foot forward and also had to stomp it down on the fact he wasn’t going to lighten this up, make it more palatable to the mass public, because I think he felt they were ready and they deserved it. He set the tone in Batman Begins and he keeps that gritty calmness on the same tightrope with tense anticipation and sliding levels of psychosis. The continuing character development of Batman running right next to the introduction of the Joker and Harvey “Two Face” Dent shows that Nolan is just as good on the page as he is on the camera. Nothing is left to chance, nothing is left unexplained, and that leads to everyone leaving the theater fulfilled.
What words could I possibly write about Heath Ledger’s performance. I was recently talking to my friends after we saw the film about how sad I was. Not only because we will only get one more chance to see new and original performances from Ledger (when his finished footage is used in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus), but also because this brilliant turn on the already once-made iconic role of the Joker will forever be marred by the events that followed it. There will forever be those people that will say we in the Hollywood community and beyond hail this role because of his death and not becuase of its sheer talent and genius. To those small and deluded voices I say this, Heath was an amazingly gifted actor and his interpretation of the Joker would have gone down in the record books no matter what happened to him afterwards and when the accolades and congratulation were lauded on him (an Oscar nomination is guaranteed, the win is probable) he would have accepted them with the same grace and humiliy he has shown so many other times before. He brought something new, something daring and something intentionally terrifying to this character. It’s incredibly unfair to compare his performance with that of Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s Batman because that film went in a totally different direction. Burton created a comic book world where Batman and his peers existed, whereas Nolan made a dramatic effect of creating our world, this day and time, which just happens to have Batman, and in turn those who will always turn up to fight against him. The final effect of all that work is a film with much more power, more substance and a raging river of emotions that rush over the audience.
Let’s not forget the other great roles in this film. Christian Bale brought even more to the Batman side of the equation this time, where we spent a lot of time seeing the person under the mask in the first film, now is our chance to see his psyche slide across that dangerously thin line between one personality and the other. One might use the term “the light and the dark”, but for the character of Bruce Wayne it is more approriate to think of it as “the dark and the pitch black”. Aaron Eckhart gives a little touch of his character from Thank You For Smoking and shows what happens when good people are pushed too far. Michael Caine brings a sense of class and stoic nature as always, showing a little more depth of the relationship between Alfred the loyal butler and his charge. Gary Oldman proves once more that he can be a skilled actor without showing how crazy he can be. Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal and a cameo by Cillian Murphy round out the cast, all refusing to let the quality and level of the film dip below outstanding.
Overall, this is a near perfect film. Running at 2 and 1/2 hours, I honestly didn’t feel one minute was overdone or unnecessary. One of the great successes of this piece is on paper this shouldn’t work at all. The normal rules of storytelling are completely shattered, the traditions of Hollywood movies (especially those that cost $180 million to make) are left whining and sputtering in the past. Chistopher Nolan has just secured himself a place in the annals of movie history as a great storyteller, accomplished director and soon-to-be most profitable moviemaker of all time. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and go immediately. I didn’t see it in the IMax first because I was afraid I might miss small details, but now that I have had the Arclight experience first, IMax…here I come for Round 2!
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Also, here’s a link to one of the better posters to come out of the marketing campaign. Many of them were sensational, like the “Why So Serious” series, but this one had a particular creepiness to it which resonated.
Posted 3 years, 6 months ago at 7:25 am. 3 comments
Why yes, it is called the Dude Ranch. Why do you ask?
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